Dark Legacy
by Dardarax
Summary: 23 years after Spyro and Cynder saved the world from destruction, peace finally reigns. The dragons have returned and all flourish beneath the rule of the Five Kings. Now it is time for the next generation to mark their place in the annals of history.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1. The Pale Warrior

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, Warfang or any other characters or places that belong to the Spyro franchise. I have however created several characters that will be featured in the upcoming chapter. Try and figure out which ones (they are listed at the bottom)._

The full moon rose high in the clear night sky, stars shimmering and dancing over the skies of Warfang. Cool spring air still tinged with the chill of winter blew from the north, causing trees to sway and loose doors to rattle. Flowers had begun to bloom, but had now closed, waiting for the sun to rise.

For Lyrith it was a perfect night for flying. The white dragon stood on the top of a high building, the spring wind blowing around him. He inhaled the fresh air savouring its sweet tang. Lyrith looked down, far below the last of the moles and dragons were returning home from their jobs or chores for a nice long sleep. But for Lyr the Albino, the night held far more excitement than the day. Night shrouded everything with a sense of adventure and mystery, painting the world in a new light. The night was full of adventure, even if you have lived in one place your whole life.

Lyr shook himself and unfurled his wings in preperation for flight. Eight horns crowned his head, six of which swept back, a silver grey in colour, the middle pair were twice the size of the other four. His remaining pair, which were smaller than the others, were two small tusk-like horns that protruded from the base of his skull just behind his jaw. His head was almost heart shaped, ending in a strong muzzle. A thick shield-like plate of scales ran from his nose to his horns, reflecting the moonlight like a mirror.

With his wings spread out, Lyrith looked rather imposing as he perched like a gargoyle on the rooftops. His snow white scales glittering in the light of the moon, countless scars that crisscrossed his form were outlined in the pale light. His tail twitched, its tip ending in a silver spearhead blade. Lyr took another breath, then he launched himself from the roof. Lyrith enjoyed the sensation of rushing through the air, hurtling toward the ground in a barely controlled fall. At the last second he pulled up and he zoomed inches over the heads of a small group of moles, who threw themselves to the ground, shouting in surprise. Lyr laughed as they scrambled to their feet and turned toward the white form of the retreating dragon shouting curses at him. Lyr soared up again his wings beating to maintain height; he swerved around tall buildings and dodged imaginary obstacles.

Lyrith loved flying; he had learned the skill nearly nine years ago without any assistance. He had practiced for months by jumping off a high ledge into a lake, letting instinct and experience be his guide. Lyr was far from stupid; he found a suitable location and learned to swim before he took his first leap. Lyr tried to think of everything through before he made any action, which is more than most other dragons in the orphanage could say.

As the white dragon raced through the sky he mused back to when a youngling had taken it into his head that he could learn to fly all by himself, just like he had. The only difference being that the youngling neglected to have something safe to land in at the bottom. The youngling learned to glide … at the last second, which is probably what saved his life. Lyr shook his head wondering how anyone could be so stupid.

Up ahead Lyrith saw The Dragon's Glade Hatchery, Egg Sitting and Orphanage. Eggs were placed in the east side of the building, were they stayed until they were picked up. If an egg hatched before being picked up they had two weeks to be picked up before being shipped off to the west side of the hatchery, the orphanage. Lyrith had never been picked up. Usually orphans only stayed in The Dragon's Glade for a year or two before being adopted, some unlucky ones stayed up to five years. Lyr's seventeenth hatchday would be in two days. Lyr sighed as he landed. He had never even been considered by adopting dragons; they took one look at him and moved on. Lyr knew why of course, it was because he was a colourless dragon, or an Albino. He'd learned the hard way that colourless dragons weren't exactly appreciated in dragon society.

_"Though,"_ Lyr thought to himself as he entered the hatchery. _"It could be because I'm ugly."_ Even as he thought it Lyr dismissed the thought. He had seen far uglier dragons being adopted before they even saw him. And by dragon standards he was apparently fairly attractive, though his red eyes might be a turnoff.

Lyr strode across the swept floor of the Hatchery, to his left a female cheetah secretary looked up at Lyr and called out to him in a cheery voice.

"Welcome back Lyr! How was your flight?"

"Alright." Lyr grunted back, a bare smile creeping over his features.

_"I may have no friends among his own kind,"_ Lyr thought as he passed the secretary, _"But at least the other races are less judgmental about my colour than the dragons are."_ Lyr reached the stairs on the west side of the building and began to climb up to his room. As he climbed Lyr looked over into the hatchery. About twenty eggs were kept here on display in their incubators. Half of them were labelled, the labelled ones being egg sat for families too busy to look after an egg themselves, these eggs never went over to the west side.

The other, unlabeled half was up for adoption. These eggs had either been abandoned or their parents had died not long after the egg was laid. Lyr wondered who his parents were, he was sure they were alive. He had been abandoned that was for sure. The glade had found him in the drop off with no gold or information, which meant that they owned him legally. The orphans had to work for the glade to pay the bills after the age of six. Lyr didn't work at the orphanage though; he had acquired his own job a few years back and now worked at the smelters. His job easily paid the bills, with extra pocket change besides. Lyr had a small stash of coins and gems in his room for emergencies or for the rare trip down to the bazaar in the wealthier parts of Warfang.

Not only did Lyr's job at the smelters make him relatively rich by orphan standards, but it also kept him in shape. He worked from ten in the morning to six in the evening. He would sleep till nine, eat fly down to the smelters work for his eight hour shift, then return to the orphanage for dinner. Lyr would then run down to the lake to work out his legs, were he would swim, climb and exercise until sunset and then Lyrith would finish off the day with a night flight and return home to sleep. Most dragons would have seen his life as boring or dull, and Lyr would agree with them. But he also knew that this life was far better than the one he was living previously.

Lyr sighed as he exited the stair case on the next floor and began walking to his room. He didn't like to think much of his childhood; it had been hard and brutal, even here in the relative shelter of the orphanage. He was rather small for his age, and coupled with his colourless scales made him an easy target for bullies. It didn't take him long to learn how to fight back. Lyr began his daily workouts many years ago and behind his white hide thick layers of hard muscle were hiding, barely seen under his scales.

Lyr reached the door to his room, as he moved to open the door he realized it was open a crack. Instantly on alert, Lyr slowly pushed the door open. Usually orphans had to share rooms with each other due to "storage" issues. However because of Lyrith's job at the smelters he was able to afford the extra rent and have a room of his own. This added onto his already large bill of shelter, food and plumbing.

As the door swung open Lyrith caught sight of three figures standing over his precious savings. The chest by the south wall that had previously contained Lyr's hoard lay open. The white dragon growled in anger causing the three figures to jump in surprise.

"Ashe, Bould, Sickle get out of my damned room before I throw you out, and put my stuff back were you found it…NOW!" The three dragons were almost as old as Lyr, though none of the three had lived in the orphanage as long as Lyr had, and had only arrived about a year ago. Ashe was a large red dragon and was considered 'hot stuff' in the orphanage. If there was anyone in the orphanage considered the right drake to be around it was Ashe. His parents died in an Ape war party raid that struck a small settlement about thirty miles east of Warfang.

Ashe frequently boasted about how he, apparently took on half a dozen Apes at once and came out unscathed. He was arrogant and self centered, though still sore about the loss of his parents. Bould, the brown dragon, dumb as a turd and half as pretty, had lost his mother to the plague that broke out in the east recently. His father had abandoned him here, when he could not support his mammoth son. Bould was huge, standing a head and a half taller than Lyr, and as an earth dragon his body strength was almost unmatched. He was of course an absolute moron, and the most intellectual thing he can say is the painfully obvious. Lastly there was Sickle the grey. Allot of mystery surrounded this wind dragon, but one thing was obvious, he was dangerous. Lyrith didn't know if any of the rumours surrounding Sickle were true, but a disturbing number of orphans were convinced that Sickle killed his girlfriend when she refused to put out. As a wind dragon Sickle relied more on speed and agility than strength. Sickle had been abandoned here as well.

"Well, well." Hissed Ashe turning to face Lyr having regained his composure. "It looks like whitey is a little angry that we played with his shinnies."

"Huh, yeah, whitey likes shinnies." Bould grunted, amused, a trickle of drool falling from the corner of his muzzle.

"Come now whitey," Sickle chided playing along. "It's only fair if you share, I mean look how many you have." Sickle trailed his claws through the small pile of coins and gems. "You could live without a few."

Lyr snarled, Ashe and Bould were larger than him despite their similar ages, the Albino wasn't built like most male dragons, he was actually built more like a female, a thin lithe body, only covered in hard slabs of muscle. Sickle was built a bit like Lyr, a lithe thin build for speed, the only difference was that Sickle was larger, yet lacked most of the muscle mass Lyrith had.

The three dragon's intentions were obvious as they moved to surround Lyr and the white mentally kicked himself.

_"Ancestors above, I should have never picked that fight with Ashe last week."_

Last week, Ashe had been making some nasty comments about Lyr to the other orphans, comments relating to Lyr's parentage, and how he was half dreadwing. Lyr had caught him and returned the favour with some equally nasty comments about Ashes dead parents, such as:

"Your parents are so useless they couldn't fight off two apes hauling shit from a tree."

Lyr had beaten Ashe soundly in the following fight and thought no more of the encounter. Apparently Ashe hadn't, and had brought two friends along.

"Is whitey scared?" Ashe taunted as they encircled Lyr.

_"Alright,"_ Lyr thought running battle simulations through his head._ "Ashe and Bould will likely attack me from the front, to try and divert my attention from Sickle who will strike from behind. Either he will use his wind element to blow me off my feet, or he will pounce onto my back and throw me off balance. Sickle is weaker than me so he will most likely use his wind element, which would give Ashe and Bould a better chance to attack."_

Ashe and Bould charged forward while Sickle got behind Lyr and waited for an opening. Lyr fought them off, batting at the two of them with his claws and wings, always ensuring one of his flanks were open. Ashe found himself being forced back; Lyr's attacks were fast and brutally strong leaving long bloody gashes on his torso. Bould struck hard but Lyr read his attacks and easily evaded, the brown found himself growing increasingly frustrated at the small white who struck with blinding speed and monstrous strength, Bould roared and spat a blast of green energy at the white. Lyrith, who had thought neither would use their element at this close of range was caught off guard and knocked off of his paws. Lyr hissed in pain as he struck the floor and scrambled to his paws.

"Yes!" Hissed Sickle who drew in a deep breath, rearing his head back. Ashe and Bould closed in on Lyr who saw Sickle raising his head to strike. Lyr leaped to the right just as Sickle released his attack, and smiled, seeing his plan coming together.

"Perfect." Lyr laughed silently at the image of Sickle's face as he released the blast where Lyr had been. The blast of wind took the feet out from Ashe and Bould who could not halt their charge in time, and the two crashed to the floor. Lyr extended his claws as he landed and skidded across the ground, turning to face Sickle. Once Lyr had Sickle in his sights he retracted his claws halting his slide, then he pounced. Lyr descended on the grey like a bolt of white lightning, his claws extended and a maniacal grin etched across his face as he slammed into Sickle. The two rolled across the ground, Lyr stopped the roll with him on top of Sickle, who had just enough time to see Lyrith's evil grin, before he griped the greys head in his claws and slammed Sickle's head into the stone floor, once, twice. Lyr stopped to look at the unfocused eyes of the wind dragon, shrugged and brought the count up to three.

Ashe and Bould struggled off the ground and turned to face Lyr who was just getting off of Sickle. The pair looked at the unconscious form of their friend with horror. Lyr whipped around to face them, fangs barred in a wicked grin. He moved forward in a slow, smooth lope low to the ground, a lion stalking two helpless victims. Ashe did not know what happened, one moment they were winning and the suddenly they were on the floor and Sickle had his face firmly implanted in the ground.

Lyr looked between the two of them trying to decide who was next. Ashe was probably the next most dangerous in terms of magic, but Bould was the strongest and would cave Lyr's head in given the chance. Lyr made his decision.

"Hey! **Bould**er head!" Lyr jeered at the brown, never taking his eyes off the two. "What's it like having a face that looks like an Apes arse?"

Bould roared in anger, and charged at Lyrith. Ashe caught off guard paused a second before charging after the brown, not wanting to be separated from his only remaining ally. Lyr sidestepped the charge, his tail whipped up and wrapped around Bould's neck. Heaving with all of his strength Lyr hauled Bould into an arc, using the brown's forward momentum to power the swing, Lyr turned and hurled Bould at Ashe. Ashe couldn't stop his charge in time, but was able to send a silent prayer to the ancestors before the flying earth dragon slammed into him like a battering ram.

Lyr walked up to the heap of dragons, taking Bould's head he tried to make an imprint of the browns face in the floor… he failed, but managed to make an interesting crunching noise. Lyr moved over to Ashe, gripping him by the horns he hauled the red from beneath the unconscious body of the brown and dragged Ashe up to eye level.

"Now here's the deal Ashe." Lyr whispered into the red dragon's ear menacingly. "You put everything you found back were you found it, and then you will drag your friends back to their rooms. If you do this you will leave this room intact. Understood?"

Ashe nodded, relived he would not be receiving a beating. Lyr dropped Ashe onto the floor and looked around. Aside from the unconscious bodies of dragons and a chastised Ashe putting the pile of coins and crystals away the room was fairly well kept. Between the windows on the south side of the room was an open chest, which Ashe dumped the coins and gems into. In a corner on the opposite side of the room was a pile of cushions that made up Lyr's bed. Lyr returned his gaze to Ashe who was hauling the last of Lyr's savings back into the chest.

"I should probably get a lock for that." Lyrith mused as Ashe dumped the last of the gold into the chest. In the middle of the room was a wooden table surrounded by a few cushions formed Lyr's dining table and study, though it was more for looks and found little use. On the east side of the room stood a small bookshelf, which housed Lyr's impressive collection of six books.

Lyr heard a grunt and looked toward Ashe who was now hauling Bould out the door which lay open on the west side of the room. A few minutes after Ashe had hauled Bould out the door, the red came back, moving the grey form of Sickle with far more ease through the open door. As the red disappeared through the door and slammed it shut Lyrith walked over to the chest on the south side of his room and opened it. A quick look confirmed that all of Lyr's valuables were stored in there.

Lyr snapped the lid of the chest shut and strode over to his bed. He pulled himself up onto the top of the pile, pumping his front paws in an up and down motion as he moulded the shape of the pillows to his liking. Lyr sighed contently as he lay down on the bed. He supposed he didn't have an exciting, adventurous life like Spyro or Cynder. The hero's whose adventures every child had grown up listening to.

_"But,"_ Lyr thought as he drifted off to sleep, curled into a tight ball on his pile of colourful cushions.

_"It is an adequate life."_

...

High up on a roof a dragon watched the colourless dragon sleep soundly, occasionally twitching as his dreams took hold. She had been watching the whole scene, and at first she had felt pity for the colourless dragon as the three full-fledged dragons closed in on the Albino. Her pity turned into surprise as she watched the apparently outmatched white quickly dispatch his three opponents.

_"This Albino could be worth looking into."_ The dragoness thought. The moon rose above the tall buildings beside her and cast a pale light over her. Red and orange scales flashed in patterns of flames, which seemed to dance in light. She turned her head to face the moon, and the bells that adorned the ends of her two long horns tinkled pleasantly, making the dragoness smile. She got up and stretched her thin lithe body.

"Yes." She mused aloud as she prepared for flight. "That dragon must be tested." She stretched her wings and took off. For a moment her wings blacked out the moon and the whole world seemed to hold its breath as she hung there. Then she flew off toward the palace in the distance that dominated the center of Warfang. Lyr shifted in his sleep, unaware of the change in his life that would soon come.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith

Ashe

Bould

Sickle

Mysterious dragoness who's name will not be disclosed at this time.

Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Dark Legacy. I know I certainly enjoyed writing it. Please review so I know how I did, it is my first fan fiction, and I would like to hear your opinions. Constructive criticism is welcome. Hate mail is not.

Edit: March 1 2012

Man, looking back on this chapter from more than a year ago, I'm really surprised how much I've changed, both for the better and for the worse (though mostly for the better). I've kept this chapter mostly the same as it was when I first wrote it, but added and changed out a few things. I'll keep its style the same though, even though pretty much every chapter after this one is written in a slightly less personal tone, though I suppose since it's solely from Lyrith's point of view, while all the other chapters mix points of view, that's (slightly) understandable. Anyway, I've spent enough time on this extra author's note. Time to move on.


	2. Punishments

Chapter 2. Punishments

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Guardians, the Temple or any other characters or places that belong to the Spyro franchise. However a number of characters I created will be featured in this chapter. Those characters will be listed at the bottom of this chapter._

The sun set on the Dragon Temple, casting long shadows across the forest of enormous mushroom trees. The wind blew through the towering spires of the Temple causing the trees in the gardens below to sway. A small town, built at the foot of the Temple plateau began to light up, the villagers setting out lamps and lighting fires for late workers. Huge dragon statues stood like sentinels around the temple, proud and majestic, gazing down over the swamp to the west, and the plains to the east.

High up on one of the spires a fully grown dragon surveyed the surroundings from a balcony. The setting sun caused the dragon's purple scales to shine like jewels; scars from many battles lined his muscular frame. Two golden horns spiraled back from his head and his golden underbelly shone in the sunlight.

It had been twenty three years since Spyro and Cynder had first defeated Malefor. At first they had been lost unable to recognize their surroundings as they had emerged from the broken world. However, fortune favoured the pair, as they came across Spyro's adoptive parents, who guided them back to Warfang. Once all was settled, the two dragons and the three remaining Guardians returned to the ruins of the Temple and had begun rebuilding. They soon found the effort to be too great for just five dragons alone and requested assistance. Expecting only a few helpers they were shocked when an army of Moles, Cheetahs, Canines and Dragons arrived to help. The Temple was built in less than three years.

Spyro stood up, and stretched, it had been a long day, a meeting with an ambassador from the Ferans, a race of deep crimson dragons from the southern jungle. Teaching a group of rowdy dragons how to properly use the fire element, and sorting out the mess from yesterday's festival in town. Turning away from the sunset view Spyro walked through an opening in the wall behind him and into his rooms. Spyro and Cynder's quarters took up three levels, though no floors separated them. Instead half a dozen platforms hung from the walls.

Each platform served its own purpose. One was a dining area where the two heroes could eat and enjoy each other's company. Another platform led directly to one of the many kitchens found in the Temple, while yet another led to a personal bath. Spyro smiled as he entered his home and sighed. Even after all these years living here it still felt odd to live in such luxury. His every need available in just one room. He had been told many times he deserved it, but he never really believed it. Below at the very base of the room sprawled a small library, Spyro's and Cynder's personal study. There books of nearly every topic imaginable were crammed into shelves and scattered across small tables.

Spyro frowned as he heard shouting from the study and looked down. Taking a step off the platform he glided down to the study floor, and was meet half way down by Sparx. Sparx, Spyro's Dragonfly step brother had grown old; his bright glow had faded, but his energy and sharp tongue had not.

"Hey Sparx," Spyro spoke as the Dragonfly met him, "what's going on down there?"

"Savron was caught sneaking around the Females quarters, again." Sparks chuckled, and Spyro's frown deepened. "The tyke is really growing up, but if he wants to get anywhere he has to try…"Sparx caught Spyro's baleful glare and backed down. "I'll shut up now."

"Good." Spyro grunted as they landed amidst the piles of books and scrolls. The two followed the shouting through a maze of bookshelves and stacks of paper; they rounded a corner and found Cynder standing over a young purple dragon and a slightly older red.

_"Oh ancestors."_ Spyro groaned as he came to a stop, a paw raising to rub at his head. _"Not another one of these arguments. I already feel another headache coming on."_

Savron the purple stood confidently, pulling off a look of injured innocence and indignation and making it look all too believable. Savron was an amethyst purple; he better resembled his father than mother. Four golden horns adorned his head, the upper pair being the larger, a silvery frill crested his head and a line of spikes ran down his back. His tail ended in a golden scythe blade. His eyes were an emerald green.

The red dragon, Igneous stood back from the two, his head hanging in shame. Igneous was a little older than the young purple and considerably larger, he sported two dark red horns that curled back like ram horns. A large orange frill cut down from his forehead to his tail, which ended in a yellow spike. he and Savron were close friends, having known each other for their entire lives and frequently accompanied Savron during his adventures.

Savron and Cynder were arguing heatedly, oblivious to Spyro as he approached them.

"It isn't proper for you to go sneaking off into the females chambers, late at night uninvited. You should know better!" Cynder growled, her face inches from Savron's. He met her gaze unflinching.

"I wasn't **sneaking** into their chambers Mom. I just wanted to check out the corridor, there are some really neat paintings there." Savron smiled brightly. "Just ask Igneous, right buddy?" Both Spyro and Cynder fixed their gazes upon the red. Igneous looked up and blushed turning his crimson scales an even deeper shade of red.

"We, uh… yeah we were only looking at the paintings, like that one with all those sheep… being herded…" Cynder's green eyes stared at him unwavering, and Igneous swallowed. Finally unable to take the dragoness's gaze any longer he broke.

"But later Savron wanted to take a peek into one of the rooms." Igneous blurted. Savron groaned and covered his head with his paws. Igneous hurried to defend his friend.

"But he only wanted to take a peek, and we never intended anything more than that. Honest" Cynder looked back at Savron who wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Fine I admit it," Savron spoke exasperated, "But it isn't like you think, I just wanted to see what the rooms looked like. I've never been allowed in and I was curious." Savron finally met her eyes and his gaze was full of innocence and sincerity. Cynder relented.

"Fine, but tomorrow you're grounded."

"Aw man…"

"Save it!" Cynder snapped. "I don't want any excuses. Tomorrow no more adventures, you're going to study." Savron turned away from Cynder grumbling, and took a short run before taking off. Cynder looked back at Igneous, who hadn't moved an inch knowing he wasn't yet dismissed.

"As for you Igneous," Cynder scolded, "why didn't you try and talk Savron out of this foolishness?" Igneous's heart fell, he had hoped to avoid being told off. Spyro watched Cynder take a deep breath, preparing for a long rant and decided to come to the young red's rescue. Spyro walked forward and silenced the black dragoness with a kiss.

"Come now Cynder, I'm sure he did everything he could to keep Savron out of this foolishness. Let's give him a break." Spyro casually walked over to one of the book shelves, he picked out a large dusty tome that read _History of the Dragon Treatise part III_. Taking the book in his jaws he brought it back to the waiting pair and dropped it in front of Igneous.

"I want you to read chapters three through six tomorrow while Savron is grounded. No excuses okay?" Igneous stared at the book his shoulders slumped when he read the title. Looking back up at Spyro he tried to smile.

"Yes sir, thank you. Please don't be too hard on Savron okay?"

"Alright, now go back to Flame and Ember. I'm sure they are worried about you."

"Okay, I'll tell them you said hi." Igneous sighed as he picked up the book in his mouth and left the room at a trot. The two watched him go.

"It was** that** book wasn't it." Cynder smirked when Igneous was out of earshot. "The one you replaced all the pages with your favourite romance novels." Spyro laughed and gave Cynder a gentle push.

"You know me like the back of your paw don't you?"

"Better." Cynder replied smugly. Turning the two took off, circling each other as they ascended. They landed on a small platform covered with pillows.

"He's going to enjoy that book." Spyro chuckled as they settled down, their tails coiled together.

"You boys are all the same aren't you?" Cynder smiled, nuzzling Spyro's neck.

"Not all of us." Spyro laughed returning the gesture. The two lay together for a few minutes looking out the nearby window at the brilliant sunset. Cynder sighed.

"I wish Savron would try and follow Igneous's example. He's thoughtful, considerate, he listens to his elders. Why can't Savron just be a little more like him?"

"Igneous is a good dragon, but not everyone can be perfect. Savron is very talented; he just lacks the motivation to try. You know this, so don't be selfish." Spyro chided. Cynder looked away and sighed again, before turning back to Spyro.

"I suppose your right… for once."

Her statement caused Spyro to laugh, a deep booming chuckle that echoed around the huge chamber. Cynder smiled as Spyro rolled over still laughing. When his laughter finally faded the great purple turned to look back at Cynder, who was smiling at him brightly.

"So how was class today?" Spyro asked drawing Cynder close to him.

"Uh, they were noisy inattentive brats today. They were barely listening to a word I said, and they wouldn't stop talking."

"So what did you do?" Spyro queried, curious.

"I told them if they didn't shut up I would give them a six page report on how elemental magic's affect everyday life."

"Bet that shut them up."

"Went as quiet as a graveyard. I could hear you rattling off to you students about basic combat maneuvers from where I was standing." Spyro raised an eye ridge; his class room was two floors down.

"Yeah I had to shout over them to get their attention. All hyped up from yesterday's carnival I suppose." The two fell silent once more remembering the hectic event. The town that lay at the foot of the Temple had held a carnival in honour of the day the Temple had been finished nearly twenty years ago. All of the students were given the day off and were set loose in town. Spyro, Cynder and a few other dragons patrolled the carnival, looking for any rowdy students that got out of hand. There were no incidences, but the students came back, drunk on happiness, though a more than a few came back actually drunk. Spyro broke the silence.

"When is Inferna returning? I'm getting tired of having to teach her classes as well as mine."

"I don't know Spyro. We haven't gotten word from her since she was in Avalar, nearly two months ago. I'm starting to get worried."

Spyro muttered, his mind turning to the irresponsible Guardian. Inferna was the new fire guardian, having been selected the same day as the Temple was finished. She was chosen from dozens of candidates, all of whom had mastered the element fire, and were well educated. Inferna was one of the youngest guardians ever chosen, her wisdom, and battle experience were greater than her years. At first, he didn't trust her, believing her to be a mere replacement for Ignitus. He changed his mind when Inferna saved him from a Grublin ambush. After that the two quickly came to an understanding, which eventually evolved into a firm, if sometimes frustrating friendship.

"She's still looking for that wonder student I suppose. Honestly it's beginning to get on my nerves." Cynder sighed exasperated. "She already has some amazing students like Igneous and Torch, why does she need any more?"

"She always has been a little eccentric, plus she has to live under the shadow of Ignitus, she probably wants to be the one to train an even greater hero." Spyro chuckled at Cynder's tight frown, and finally she smiled.

"If you can't be it, find it, right my purple champion?"

"No kidding, but Inferna is taking this to a whole new level. She's been hunting for this student for half a year now; I hear she turned down nearly a dozen candidates we would have accepted barely a year ago. I don't think there is anyone out there that will satisfy her." As Spyro spoke an idea came to Cynder, and her smile widened.

"Let's make a bet."

Spyro turned to Cynder curious." A bet?" he asked puzzled.

"Yeah we'll get all the other teachers and Guardians and bet on the outcome of Inferna's search. The betting choices will be that she doesn't come back within three months, that she won't bring back any one at all or she will actually bring back a prodigy. Then we will split the loot evenly between the winners." Cynder gave Spyro a beaming smile, showing pearly white fangs. Spyro looked at her dubiously.

"And what would I get if I joined this little game of yours?" Cynder pause to consider for a moment.

"If you win I will let you buy that sculpture you wanted." Spyro's eyes narrowed and he spoke softly as if unsure of what she said.

"Do you mean the one that you said was too gaudy?"

"Yes but if I win you have to get me that choker for my hatchday present."

Spyro's heart fell; he knew she had something up her metaphorical sleeve. The choker she wanted was a thick, gold choker, crafted by master smiths. It was nearly indestructible, and embedded with an enormous emerald. It was also worth a fortune, and would leave Spyro broke for months.

"But," he thought, remembering the sculpture, "the risk might just be worth it." The sculpture in question was the bust of a dragon, only made of countless dragons of every shade imaginable, all flying to form the shape of the dragons head. Each one like a scale that gleamed an iridescent colour. Cynder had said it was far to gaudy for her tastes, and forbid Spyro from buying it. He had never forgotten about it and had begged Cynder to let him have it every time they passed it by. She had never relented. Spyro wavered for a moment before giving in.

"Deal. So what will you bet on?"

"I'm going with her not getting here for another three months."

"Typical, taking the most likely outcome." Spyro thought bitterly. "Then I think she will come back with a prodigy, she isn't the type to come back empty handed."

"We'll see." Cynder said slyly as she got up, and stretched. "Let's go to bed, I'm feeling a bit put out today because of my fight with Savron."

Spyro followed her as she beat her wings and took off from the platform. The two soared lazily up toward the top of the chamber where their bed hung like an enormous chandelier from the ceiling. The two landed on the large platform, causing it to sway slightly. The center of the platform was dominated by a huge pile of cushions, all a magnificent red colour, trimmed with gold. Long drapes hung around the platform like thick mist, blocking out everything beyond them. The platform itself was stable, attached to the ceiling by four giant chains, each link the size of a large mole.

Cynder strode briskly toward the pile of cushions, where she climbed on top of the heap and curled up. A small breeze blew through the drapes causing Cynder to shiver.

"Spyro come keep me warm, I'm cold." Cynder demanded imperiously, making Spyro smile.

"Yes your highness." Spyro bowed, striding towards the bed in a long lope. He climbed up the pile of pillows and curled up beside her, laying half of his body over her like a blanket. Cynder sighed.

"Mmm, much better, now stay there." Spyro nuzzled Cynder gently, which she returned gratefully. Then the two snuggled down for an early sleep. Outside the moon began to rise casting its pale light over the Temple. The night animals began to stir and cautiously left their shelters, while the day creatures retreated to their hideaways.

The small purple dragon Savron sulked in his room, still yearning to explore the Temple, and unwilling to sleep.

Igneous arrived back home and kissed his mom and dad good night before going to his room for and early rest. While far away in the city of Warfang, a snow white dragon launched himself from the top of a high building, for his night flight.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron

Igneous

Inferna

Torch

All right! Chapter two is done! I`m all pumped up and ready to start writing another one! Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, please review and tell me how I did and if you like it. It would mean a great deal to me.

Edit: March 1 2012

I think I realize one of the major problems with these first couple chapters: I didn't really follow the rule of 'show, don't tell' that well. So I changed a couple things to do less explaining, and more showing. Still, I left much of it as it was, since I don't think I should outright change everything. After all, even if this isn't by best work, these first couple chapters, they're still important in showing my development as a writer. :)


	3. Guerrilla Warfare

Chapter 3. Guerrilla Warfare

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax do **not** own Spyro, Cynder or any other character or place that belongs to the Spyro franchise. Though several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

Sunlight streamed through the open windows of the orphanage, and into Lyrith's sleeping eyes. He winced, and slowly opened his eyes, blinking to get the glare out of his vision. He quickly adjusted to the bright light, bringing his room into focus. It was much how he had left it when he had fallen asleep, although the colours were clearer and more vibrant in the bright sun. The deep brown of the wooden chest between his two windows was clearly visible. The many colourful pillows that made up his bed livened up the dreary grey of the stone walls. The wooden table that sat in the center of Lyr's room cast a long shadow across his room. Little smudges of red dotted the cold stone floor, mementoes of last night's fight.

Lyrith stretched before slowly getting off his bed. Sleepily he walked over to the windows and looked out. The lake in the distance sparkled a clear blue green just beyond the walls of Warfang. The trees swayed in the light breeze that blew through the open windows, their green leaves rustling. Down by the lakebed flowers bloomed in a rainbow of colours.

Lyrith allowed himself a yawn before shaking the sleepiness out of him. Taking long strides, Lyr walked to the door. After opening the latch with his teeth and slipping through Lyr let the door shut behind him. It was later in the day than he usually got up, but he still had time to eat before he went off to the smelters. Lyr picked up speed, jogging down the spiral staircase. Lyr felt his stomach growl. He reached the first floor at a run. Dodging small dragonlings and larger dragons, Lyr weaved through the crowd and turned into the mess hall.

Ahead of him a long line of dragons stretched toward the other side of the mess hall where the food was kept. Rather than joining the line Lyr scooted past it and headed toward his usual table. A canine serving girl, with a salt and pepper coat danced through the crowd, and placed a platter of food on the table just as Lyr reached it.

"Morning Lyr!" The girl chirped happily as Lyrith sat down.

"Thanks Fei." Lyr grinned back; he reached out and dropped a small crystal into her hands. She smiled, before turning around and walking back to the kitchen. Lyr heard grumbling around him as he prepared for his meal.

"Why does he get his food delivered to him while we sit in line?"

"Hey! I've been waiting ten minutes in this line for some grub, and he gets it the moment he walks in?"

Lyrith chuckled; there were benefits to paying your own bills, benefits like delivery. Lyrith examined his breakfast, piled on a thin metal platter lay some sliced fruit, a lump of something vaguely resembling chicken, and a small bowl of jam.

Lyrith started with the sliced fruit, his jagged fangs flashed as they cut through the soft flesh of pear and apple. Most dragons prefer only meat in their diet, but the Albino was not most dragons. Lyr's eyes roamed over the mess hall, watching the other dragons get their food and move on to their seats, none sat near the Albino. Lyr didn't know why he was so different. It was as if he wasn't a dragon at all, but rather some flying lizard which was only tolerated in dragon society by looking similar. Dragons couldn't taste sweet foods, which had led to their almost entire diet of meat, mixed with the occasional loaf of bread and scattering of nuts. But Lyr could taste sweet foods; he could taste the sweet tang of the pears and apples, and the sugary sweet of the jam. His diet often made nearby dragon's gag, as they imagined eating the apparently tasteless food.

_"Just another reason to be shunned."_ Lyr thought to himself as he finished his fruit and picked up the lump of meat. Lyr examined it suspiciously; unsure of its origins, then he shrugged, and bit into it. It was chicken, just slightly raw, Lyr devoured the chicken quickly, uncaring of its barely cooked state. Finally only the jam remained, Lyr loved the jam, it was so sweet and flavourful he could hardly help himself from digging into it every meal. He also loved the expressions on all of the surrounding dragon's faces as he smeared the jam all over his face and paws. Normally jam wasn't available on the menu, but for a small fee Lyr got it with every meal.

Lyrith was fully aware that the Dragons Glade Orphanage was practically milking him for money, but he didn't care. Lyr figured that for as long as he lived here he could at least enjoy his stay. Licking the smudges of jam from his paws and face Lyr sat up and walked over to the water trough. The water trough was a small canal of running water pumped in from the lake. The clear cool water was available for all to use, as drinking water.

A long time ago a young dragon thought to use the canal as a washroom, his decision greatly influenced by the group of dragons drinking from the far side of the canal. They had recently used the young dragon as a punching bag, and the small dragon wished for revenge. The group of dragons had beaten the young dragon once more, when they had caught him in the act. None had intervened, in fact many had joined in beating the young dragon because they also had to drink from the canal, running water or not. Lyr still had scars from that day, and the white dragon shook his head remembering the look on those bullies faces.

_"I suppose even I have my stupid moments."_ Lyr thought, as he took a long drink from the canal. He scooped up some water and cleaned his muzzle, scrubbing the last of his breakfast off of his face.

Lyr strode out of the mess hall and into the lobby. Lyr picked up speed as he dashed out the door and leapt into the sky. Beating his wings to gain altitude, Lyr shot off towards the outskirts of Warfang where the smelters were located. There were many dragons in the sky, flying to their jobs, or dropping their children off at schools.

When Malefor had been defeated by Spyro and Cynder the first time, dragons had poured in, returning to their old homes from hiding places all over the world. In fact there had been so many dragons that the Guardians soon realized they could not teach them all, or even a twentieth of them. Instead the Guardians taught a large number of older dragons advanced skills. They then sent those dragons off to teach others what they had learned. Soon schools for dragons began to appear all over the Dragon Realms. With so many schools teaching younglings skills, the Guardian's found themselves with almost nothing to do.

The Guardians decided to become the teachers at an elite school, a school for the best of the best, the Guardians set off in search of students of incredible skill, intelligence and elemental prowess. These dragons would become dragons of enormous power and wisdom, the leaders of dragon kind. The best of these students might eventually become Guardians themselves, to continue the preservation of the dragon race. The program had only started a few years back, and Lyrith was even present at the announcement, which was made by Cyril in Warfang. Lyr hadn't got a good look at the Ice Guardian, but it was a day Lyrith remembered clearly.

Thousands had come to the speech, all wishing to see one of the legendary Guardians who had helped bring about the downfall of Malefor not just once but twice. Lyr had been pushed to the back of the crowd and had only been able to see the blue scales of the Ice Guardian on the tip of his tail, before being shoved backward and losing sight of the stage. The speech about the new academy was long and boring and Lyrith barely remembered any of it. However it was followed up by the announcement of Cynder being elected the fifth Guardian, much to the joy of the crowd. Cynder's popularity had grown substantially after the second resurrection, where Malefor had been defeated the second and final time.

Lyr didn't know much about the second resurrection, as it happened before his hatching, but apparently Malefor managed to resurrect himself again and started the process of destroying the world all over. He was killed by Spyro, Cynder and the Guardians before his plans could come to fruition, and any lingering beliefs of Cynder's loyalty towards Malefor were quelled. Cynder became the Guardian of both Wind and Shadow to encompass two of the remaining elements found amongst dragon society.

_"I wonder if they are still looking for students?"_ Lyr thought to himself as he soared over the city of Warfang, the people below resembling scurrying ants. _"Probably not, It's been two, three years now, they must be filled to the brim with talented students."_

Lyr dodged an incoming earth dragon and began his descent into the smelters. Huge chimneys of stone and metal belched ash and smoke, while down below the entrance was crammed with earth and fire dragons, Manweresmalls and a scattering of other races.

_"I wonder what kind of students they picked. Would they be arrogant or humble? Kind or uncaring...? Not that it matters,"_ Lyr thought glumly as he landed amidst a group of tiny moles. _"even if I ever got the chance to meet one they would look down on me. After all I barely fit in with regular dragon society, let alone high class dragon snobs trained by heroes."_

"Ai Lyr! What is zee doing? Geet over here we're going to be late!"

Lyr turned and saw a small mole jumping up and down trying to catch his attention.

"Hey Aggernon, sorry I'm late, I slept in!" Lyr called back, as he pushed his way through the crowd, toward the mole.

"Well let's go zen, our shift has almost started." The Manweresmall mole scurried off towards the smaller of the smelters, Lyr followed, quickly catching up to Aggernon and slowing his pace for the mole. Inside the smelters huge fires roared behind metal grates. Figures both large and small worked busily, pouring molten metal into moulds, hauling carts of metal ingots and working the bellows. Fire dragons sent blasts of flame through the grates to add to the heat, while earth dragons worked the presses. Moles brought fire wood and buckets of oil to keep the blazing fires alive.

Lyr and Aggernon slipped through the crowd dodging workers as they headed through the maze of steel bars, furnaces and workers towards the offices at the back. There, an important looking red dragon stood watching the progress of the workers, occasionally jotting down a note in a large ledger, gold chains were draped around his neck and little medallions hung on threads of gold and silver from his two large horns. Lyrith and Aggernon approached the dragon who looked up at them, frowning.

"Morning boss, what's my shift today?" Lyrith asked casually, the red dragon flipped through the ledger, scowling.

"That's Mr. Boss to you Lyrith, hmm, you're on bellows today, Aggernon fuel duty. Chop chop, everyone else has already started. Get to work you two." The red turned away from the two, losing all interest in their existence. Lyr and Aggernon turned back, heading to their assigned working areas.

"Man bellows again! This is the third day in a row." Lyr snorted, shaking his head in frustration.

"Eet is still better zan zeh fuel duty, running back and forth carrying all sorts of things, eet is zeh worst, no?" Lyr laughed, glancing at the moles stubby legs.

"For you maybe, I hate having to stand by that blazing fire all day, I feel like a roasting turkey getting cooked for dinner." Aggernon nodded in agreement, conceding the point. Lyrith reached his post and stopped.

"See yah Aggy! Don't get hurt tripping over your own feet!" The small mole waved a small stubby hand in farewell.

"After work how about we go for a drink, no?"

Lyrith smiled back, as he began working the bellows. "Sure, why not. Drinks are on me."

* * *

The sun had begun its descent and was now half way to sunset. The trees rustled loudly in the strong wind and dark clouds crept over the northern horizon, threatening to descend upon Warfang in all of nature's fury. Lyr watched the progress of the incoming storm and sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be doing his night flying today. He had just finished his daily exercise and felt refreshingly tired. These feeling were only slightly muddled due to his outing with Aggernon, with whom he had shared a drink earlier that day.

Lyr lay upon the sandy beach by the lakebed, small waves lapped up the shore, occasionally rolling over his toes. Lyr stretched his lean form, soaking up the last rays of sunlight before the inevitable storm struck. Many dragons would consider him feminine in appearance, and there had been occasions were an unobservant dragon had tried to pull the moves on Lyr, only to be thrown out a window. Lyr was as strong as many earth dragons and as fast as a wind dragon, his muscles corded like ropes of steel were quite flexible, allowing for almost instant reaction. This came in handy when an Ape stood over you holding a battle-axe.

Lyr let out a startled yelp and rolled to his paws, the blow from the axe narrowly missing his head. Lyr whipped around, his bladed tail flicked like a whip and swiped across the Ape's throat. Dark blood splattered over the sand as the decapitated Ape collapsed twitching to the ground.

Lyr looked down at the motionless form of the Ape confused.

_"Why was an Ape here? This close to Warfang? The raid on Ashe's home town had been the closest any had come for fifteen years, what's going on?"_ Lyr examined the beast closely, he had up to this point, never seen an Ape. They were gruesome creatures, covered head to toe with crude tattoos, a rough vest covered their shoulders and their lower body was clothed only by a thick loincloth.

The smell of blood combined with the Ape's rank odour made Lyrith wrinkle his nose. Death wasn't new to Lyrith, and this wasn't the first time he had been forced to take a life, and it wasn't the pleasant experience most dragons considered it to be after listening to the heroic stories of Spyro and Cynder. What disturbed Lyr the most, however, was his lack of anything resembling sympathy or remorse for ending the Ape's life.

_"It had been so easy."_ Lyr thought, as he watched the blood soak into the sand. _"Just one stroke and this being's whole existence erased in an instant."_

A loud scream tore Lyrith from his thoughts of death and back into reality.

"That sounded like a dragonling!" Lyr turned and charged into the forest. For a few seconds he ran wildly in the direction of the scream, branches whipping at him as he raced through the undergrowth, the trees around him moving past in blurs of motion. Suddenly Lyr realized what he was doing and stopped.

"What am I thinking?" Lyr scolded himself. "If I charge in their without a thought they will hear me. I have to know what's going on before I do anything rash."

Thinking quickly, the white drake decided upon moving through the trees, where the dense foliage would conceal him from anyone on the ground or in the sky. He rapidly scaled a nearby tree, and hopped onto a thick tree branch. From there, he used the crisscrossing branches as a walkway to quickly and quietly close in on the source of the scream.

It wasn't long before Lyr heard voices, gruff and sinister. Lyrith slowed down, and crept through the foliage hoping to remain undetected. The forest path opened up into a small clearing full of burly Apes. A huge bonfire blazed in the middle of the clearing, and lying beside the raging flames a young dragoness lay, bound and gagged. She was an icy blue colour spotted with patches of off-white, four tiny horns stuck out of her head curling backward.

"Mmm, I always love a good dragoness." One of the Apes said wickedly, poking at the dragoness who reeled as if bitten. "Taste so good when cooked well done with a light drizzling of gravy!"

"Yeah, but I prefer mine on a stick!" Another Ape sneered jabbing at the dragoness with his spear, who squealed and wriggled away.

Lyr found the dragoness's behavior a little odd, despite the circumstances. When the Apes paid her no mind she was calm and collected, as if nothing was wrong, but if the spoke to her, or paid her any heed she would squeal and desperately struggle in her bonds. Lyrith watched the Apes taunt the dragoness for a moment before realizing he was out in the open and scurried back into the cover of the tree branches.

Lyrith began formulating a battle plan as he watched the Apes move around from the shelter of the tree.

_"It would be both stupid and reckless to charge in there, while there are thirteen Apes, to face down. I'll need a distraction, and then I can go in while they aren't paying attention and… No, too many ways it could go wrong, they would only have to leave a guard and I may be forced to engage them all in battle."_ Lyrith considered his options for a moment before deciding on a plan. Slipping down the tree Lyrith came to rest on the soft earth of the leaf strewn forest floor. Scooping up some mud and leaves he slathered his snow white scales with grime until he resembled a bush. Then, he grabbed some rocks he climbed back up into the trees to hide them among the surrounding oaks.

Lyrith picked up two of the rocks in his claws, and, taking careful aim, he tossed the rock into the air, batting it with his tail. The rock whirled through the air and struck an Ape directly between the eyes. The Ape collapsed onto the ground out cold. The other Apes gathered around their fallen comrade stunned. Lyr launched a second rock at the closest Ape, however he hit the rock too early and it spun out of control into the crowd of Apes. It struck the spear Ape directly between the legs. The Ape that had been taunting the prisoner with his spear gasped and fell to the ground writhing. Lyr grinned, he may have missed, but the attack had the intended effect. The rest of the Apes leapt back away from their fallen comrades, as if being near them would ensure they would be next. Lyr picked up his last rock and tossed it into the bushes on his right. The rock struck a tree with a loud thump, before falling into the bushes causing them to rustle. The Apes turned towards the noise weapons drawn.

"What was that?"

"It sounded like it was coming from over there!" A much larger Ape, obviously the leader, shoved two of the other Apes over to where Lyrith had dropped his rock. The two Apes walked slowly towards the bushes. Lyr waited until they had walked deep into the bushes before following. He snatched a rock from a knot hole in a nearby tree as he tracked the wary Apes. The Apes stopped just out of view of the clearing, looking around for the source of the noise, Lyr struck.

He tossed the stone into the air and batted it towards the nearest Ape; it struck the unsuspecting target on the back of the head, causing the Ape to keel over. The second Ape jumped when his companion fell, then he looked up, guessing correctly that the assailant struck from above. However Lyrith had glided to the forest floor just after he struck the stone and hid among the undergrowth, his camouflaged body blending in almost perfectly with the surroundings. Lyrith slowly snuck up behind the Ape, who was jabbing his spear into the leaves above and was too preoccupied to notice the leafy dragon behind him. One slash with Lyrith's claws across the throat of the Ape ended its life; Lyr slit the throat of the first Ape to be sure it wouldn't get back up.

Lyr turned away coldly to slowly make his way back towards the clearing, giving the Apes plenty of time to worry about their missing comrades. He soon returned to the tree he had launched his attack from, taking a few of the stones he had hidden around the nearby trees Lyrith moved from tree to tree until he was on the other side of the clearing. The Apes in the clearing were looking around nervously, having expected their scouts to be back a while ago. Lyr smiled around the rocks clenched in his mouth before dropping to the ground and into a bush. The Apes whirled to face Lyr who allowed them a glimpse of his leafy form before darting into the underbrush.

Behind him he heard the Apes battle cries as they charged after him. Lyrith gave them a short chase, dodging through the bushes before scaling a tree. Four Apes, unaware that their prey had escaped, charged by. The noise of their rush overwhelmed the sound of Lyrith following close behind. Lyr ran from tree to tree, leafy limbs whipped at him as he ran across branches and leapt gaps. Up ahead Lyr saw the Apes slow, then stop. Lyr did likewise, and after a seconds pause he batted a rock into the bushes to their right. The Apes resumed the charge in the direction of the noise; a second stone followed the first and struck the rear Ape across the head. None of the others noticed the missing member in their reckless charge. Lyr swooped down and tore out the throat of the downed Ape, and without breaking stride continued up another tree in pursuit of the remaining Apes.

It didn't take long for the three remaining Apes to realize they were missing one in number. Lyr batted his third and final stone at the nearest Ape; it clipped it across the head. The Ape staggered, clutching its bleeding face. Lyr leapt from the tree and onto the injured Ape, a leafy mud streaked blur that struck the Ape at full force. Sickening cracks and a gurgle emanated from the crushed Ape. With a swipe of his tail Lyr took the scimitar from the hand of the nearest Ape. A sharp pain in Lyr's side caused the Albino to leap off of the dead beast. An Ape held a spear level to Lyr, its tip stained red. Lyr growled before he vaulted at the offending spearman. It stabbed at the incoming dragon; however he misjudged the dragon's trajectory, expecting Lyrith to come right at him. Lyr landed a few feet in front of the Ape, only avoiding the spear tip by inches. Not missing a beat, he pounced a second time, clear over the spear tip and onto the Apes upper torso. Lyrith tore at it with his claws and clamped his jaws over its head. Lyr crushed the Apes head between his jaws, filling his mouth with gore. Lyr gagged at the iron taste of blood and dirty Ape flesh, which created a nauseating flavour in his mouth. Lyr spat out the blood, his stomach churning.

Lyrith had only a seconds warning as the last of the three Apes hurled itself at him, scimitar back in its hand. Another hot burst of pain shot through Lyr as the curved blade slashed his flank. Having dodged the potentially fatal wound, Lyr's claws shot forward and tore the throat from the last Ape. Lyr looked down at himself as the offending Ape bled out in front of him. Lyr was soaked in Ape blood that showed clearly on his white scales and leafy form. Two jagged wounds slashed across his body, both bled lightly. Lyr sighed with relief.

_"At least they're not deep."_ Lyr thought gratefully, as he walked slowly back the way he had come, not willing to drain himself. The clearing quickly came back into view, where the remaining six Apes all huddled together, a short way away from their prisoner. Lyr smirked at their nervous expressions, and anxious glances they made as they waited for their comrades to return.

"Where are they?" Asked the spear Ape nervously clutching his wounded groin, glancing in the direction their doomed comrades had gone. "They should have been back by now."

"Maybe we should go look for them." A second Ape suggested.

"No, if we split up now we'll just end up like the others. If they're still alive then they'll come back. Until then our best chance is to stay here."

_"An appropriate decision for one who has lost half of his forces."_ Lyr thought smugly, before what they had just said sunk in. _"Wait, Apes don't speak Dragonic, at least not to each other, and they speak it so fluently, they talk like they have spoken our language all their lives."_ Lyrith tried to banish the distracting thoughts and return to the task at hand, but was only partially successful. Lyrith began moving slowly around the clearing and closer to the prisoner.

_"With only six opponents I can make a stance, first I must secure the prisoner. If they take her hostage it will all be over."_ Lyr arrived at the bushes closest to the prisoner. He crouched down, and worked through the battle plan once more in his head; to be sure most of the odds were in his favour.

_"From here I can make a quick dash to the prisoner, they will reach her first but won't have time to secure her before I am on them. I seize the prisoner and drive the Apes away from her, killing them before they have a chance to organize well enough that they can capture her again."_ Lyrith readied himself for the charge, never taking his eyes off the prisoner or the Ape. Once again it struck him how odd the prisoner acted around the Apes, and how the Apes spoke to each other. Lyr hesitated.

_"Is this a trap...? No I can't think like this now, I can't leave a little dragoness to her fate with a group of Apes. If it is a trap I will fall right into it."_

Lyr rushed forward, moving like a mud-streaked, blood-stained white lion. The Apes turned and shouted in shock. Unsheathing their weapons they charged the oncoming dragon. Lyr prepared to pounce on the one who grabbed the prisoner, but was shocked to see them rush right past her.

Something in Lyr's head clicked into place, all of his suspicions coming together. Instantly changing tactics Lyr pounced, flying straight over the Apes heads. He landed behind them and whipped around, his tail blade sang through the air, cutting the hamstrings of two of the Apes. They howled and fell to the ground screaming. Lyr charged the largest Ape and rammed it in the belly, the air left its lungs in a whoosh and it collapsed to the ground.

Lyr leaped atop the Ape and clawed its throat out with a swipe of his claws. Leaping off the dying Ape, Lyr beat his wings and dived at another foe. To Lyr's horror the Ape raised its spear in anticipation. Desperately trying to change his course Lyr beat his wings frantically. He felt a sharp pain run down his belly as he narrowly avoided the spear tip. Lyr hit the ground and rolled away. When he came to a stop Lyr took a nervous look down his body and was relieved to find all of the important bits still attached.

Quickly rising to his paws, Lyr found himself surrounded. Three Apes stood, though only one had been killed, the first two whose hamstrings were severed lay writhing on the ground unable to fight back. Of the three that remained two were axe men and one was the wretched spear man. One of the axe Apes swung wildly at Lyrith who dodged nimbly and pounced on the spear bearing Ape. The Ape had no time to raise his spear in defense as Lyr's claw descended and tore a hole between the Apes legs. The Ape dropped its spear and clutched the place where its groin had been. Lyr dropped the now useless piece of meat held in his claws and lunged. His fanged maw bit into the dancing Ape's neck and Lyr twisted his head, feeling the neck snap beneath his jaws.

Lyr turned to the last two Apes who stared at Lyrith with horror. The white smiled wickedly, his blood stained teeth bared as he advanced, crouched low like a wolf stalking its prey. Desperately the Apes charged him, axes swinging wildly, Lyr ducked easily beneath the clumsy attacks, flaring his wings as he passed between them. The two Apes were bowled over, and in a heartbeat both of their throats were torn out. Lyr strode over to the two remaining Apes who desperately tried to rise from the ground, the Albino ended their misery.

The blood soaked Lyr walked slowly over to the prisoner and looked down at her. Her eyes shone with awe, admiration and fear as she gazed up at him. Lyrith turned away from her and faced the forest.

"Before I free the girl I want you to come out. I know you're there, so stop hiding."

For a second nothing happened and then laughter emanated from beside Lyr who turned to face the sound. Up high in a tree a large figure dropped to the ground and faced the white dragon. From her shape she was obviously female, red and orange colours created a flame like pattern across her whole body. Two large horns curled up from her head, their tips decorated with bells and other trinkets. Her face was less angular than most females and ended in a dainty muzzle. Large hazel eyes stared at the small white dragon, soaked with blood standing boldly before her.

"What gave me away?" The dragoness asked amusement evident in her melodious voice. Lyr began to tick all of the facts he had learned off of his scarred claws.

"The girl acted strangely, the Apes spoke in Dragonic, and they weren't smart enough to hold her hostage. The Apes are dummies right?"

"Yes magically enhanced training dummies that have all the functions of a real Ape. Neither of you were in any real danger, though there were some times where I nearly intervened. As for the girl she agreed to help me, I didn't force her."

"Help with what?" Lyrith asked as he cut the bonds that held the 'prisoner', who sighed with relief as she stretched her cramped body.

"Help with your test." The fire dragoness replied vaguely, a smile creasing her muzzle.

"Test? What test? And who are you anyway?" Lyrith demanded turning back to the red dragoness. The dragoness smirked, rising herself up to her full hight.

"I am Inferna, Guardian of flame, and I want you Lyrith the Albino, to be my student."

**Characters created by Dardarax: **

Lyrith

Aggernon

Inferna

Prisoner dragoness (name is given later)

Mr. Boss

That was a fun chapter to write, to all those who suspected that the mysterious dragoness was Inferna congratulations you have just been proven right. As for the second resurrection, I intend to write about it on a later date, but for various reasons decided Dark Legacy had to be written first.

Ps. Oh and If you got the pun - it was intentional. :P

Edit: March 2 2012

Actually forgot about the pun here. xD Changed a good amount here too, though not enough to alter the overall style of the chapter. These first couple chapters really do focus more on the humorous side of the story, rather than the emotional side of the later chapters, which is rather sad, because I enjoyed the blatant and often times stupid humor I got to play with during these first couple chapters. Over all these first batch really do feel more childish and lighthearted in feel than my later chapters, though that might just be nostalgia talking. =) I also find that, in the later chapters, I seem to focus less on Lyrith's internal dialogue and planning, and more on his actions and emotions. Over all this gives him a more relatable feel, and makes what he does seem less forced, but it was a major point of his to plan things out, so cutting that thought process out might be a bit of a mistake. I'll have to consider re-implementing this sometime later on.


	4. Firmly Grounded

Chapter 4. Firmly Grounded

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Guardians, The Temple or any other place or character belonging to the Spyro franchise. Should I ever actually come to possess the franchise I will jump up in down in my underwear and yell out splidoinky five times. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, and their names are listed below._

Dawn had broken many hours ago, and the sun was now nearing its peak. Far below the Dragon Temple rose up in all of its glory. Its smooth white stone walls shone in the bright sunlight. At the south east corner of the Temple a large domed coliseum loomed up around several smaller buildings. All were connected by long halls that stretched between the structures, connecting them like spokes in a giant wheel.

A garden of statues surrounded the coliseum, here the memorials of all the heroes, both named and unnamed stood. For these heroes had defended the Temple against the second resurrection, and Malefor's armies. Many lives were lost among every race, and these statues stood in their honour. They symbolised the valour and commitment of all who lost their lives, protecting the place that would raise the next generation of protectors, and Guardians.

These sights were lost on Savron who sat bored as Cyril lectured him on how badly he had done with his most recent attempt at the blizzard technique.

"Come now Savron, you are the only one who hasn't grasped this technique yet. You don't want to disgrace your grand heritage with your lack of skill do you?" The Ice Guardian asked, shaking his head condescendingly. Savron sighed, placing a paw to his forehead; he could feel a headache building up. For Savron the problem was not the technique, it was the tutor. Every time Savron would make the slightest error, Cyril would mention how Savron could use drastic improvements. And every time he got something right Cyril would say something like:

"Adequate, but a long way off the greatness of my noble ancestors."

It drove Savron crazy. He could care less about heritage and legacy. Savron had enough trouble living under his father's legacy, let alone the legacy of all of Cyril's ancestors. Savron was trying to learn the blizzard technique, where a dragon cocoons itself in freezing wind and mows through the enemy. Savron understood the concept and the destructive power of the technique; however he could not support it.

Normally an ice dragon concentrates on creating a spiral of icy wind beneath them, supporting their weight and spinning the dragon like a top. However Savron couldn't keep the current constant. And the nonstop comments and criticism from Cyril were primarily at fault. Alone Savron could achieve the technique, but every time he tried to prove it to Cyril he was unable to hold his concentration.

"I can do it without the criticism Cyril, you keep breaking my concentration!" Savron growled at the arrogant Ice Guardian.

"If you can't hold it while I'm commenting, how do you expect to hold it while being attacked?" Cyril questioned. His logic only served to infuriate Savron further.

"If you would help me rather than comparing me to your ancestors every five seconds I could Cyril!" Savron snarled angrily. The two sat in the middle of an open air training ground found near the coliseum. Sitting off to the side a small crowd of ice dragons watched the two argue. This was a scene that occurred often, Savron would come up to practice a technique and fail because of Cyril's boasting. Every single ice dragon here had perfected the technique, but Savron couldn't even remain aloft long enough to bowl over a single training dummy.

Cyril was about to respond when a loud gong sounded. Cyril looked to the hourglass beside him that had just run empty, and shook his head.

"All right class is over, remember to practice every day. Savron I'll test you again tomorrow on your control over blizzard. Good day."

Everyone sat up, and stretched, slightly cramped, before moving towards the door. A small ice dragon, relatively scrawny in comparison to the others ran over to Savron.

"You're doing better, Savron. You just need to focus on keeping your balance. Without the proper balance, the vortex of air created will not support your weight, and causing you to fall." The young dragon spouted, as they walked towards the door. The dragon was a sky blue. Three overly large horns adorned his head. Two curled backwards, and the third thrust forward from his forehead, running parallel with his long muzzle. His horns were an azure blue, and his eyes a deep green.

"Plus," the dragon continued as they exited the room. "If you focus more energy into the base of the blizzard, it would be considerably easier to balance, and add greater force to your…"

"Thanks Sleet," Savron interrupted the young dragon's rant. "But like I said a million times before, I can do it. Just not while that big mouth yabbers on about his ancestors."

"Well maybe I help you practice by throwing rocks at you while you practice Blizzard?" Sleet joked.

"I suppose it would be less painful than listening to Cyril's boasting." Savron laughed as they entered the statue gardens.

"So, I hear you're grounded today. I guess that means our adventure is off, right?" Sleet asked, sounding a little disappointed. Savron grinned down at the younger dragon.

"Of course not! It just means it will be a little shorter than usual. Mom and dad are off on a trip to town, and won't be here to supervise me." Sleet looked at Savron dubiously.

"So you're going to disobey your parents, and go anyway? Is that smart?"

"They won't ever know. Come on lets go get Typhous." The two took off, rapidly gaining altitude. They soared over the Temple, looking down into its many gardens and buildings. Savron had to slow his pace so Sleet could catch up. Sleet had very little muscle, and had difficulty gaining any. No matter what exercising he did, no matter how hard he worked, he could not build muscle. However, muscle mass was a reasonable exchange for the power Sleet could wield.

The young ice dragon was quite possibly the most powerful dragon in the Temple. Capable of freezing a lake solid while in the middle of a volcano, Sleet possessed more raw magical power than any of the Guardians. However he had difficulty controlling it and often wound up overcharging his techniques. He also had trouble using his power in combat. Sleet was so nervous he might lose control he was unable to utilize it effectively in a fight.

Savron shouted and pointed to a small garden by the edge of the mushroom forest. The two descended to the small garden, full of plant life and small animals. In the center of the garden a silver-grey wind dragon sat examining the blooming flowers while humming to himself. The dragon wore stunning gold jewellery; chains of gold connected his six horns which swept back gracefully. Two bands of gold were clasped around his tail, and polished bracelets curled around his front paws. A scarf of ocean blue silk was wrapped around his elegant neck.

Typhous often reminded Savron of his mother, his body was of a slim build. His face was the same tear shape, ending in a beak like muzzle. A small crescent shaped blade tipped his tail. If it wasn't for his grey scales and slightly bulkier frame, he would have looked just like her. Typhous looked up as Savron and Sleet landed, and grinned, showing off pearly white fangs.

"Well, you're a little early today, Sav, Sleet."

"We got here as fast as we could, Typhous. You probably heard I'm grounded today, so we will have to shorten our outing."

"Ah, so you are not going to stay grounded then. That will just get you into more trouble."

"No it won't. Mom and dad are out in town. We'll go for an hour, and then I will come back and study. They will never know the difference." Savron beamed, sure his plan would work. Typhous and Sleet rolled their eyes. Cynder would find out, she always found out.

"Alright Sav, what are we doing today?" Sleet asked nervously. A lot of Savron's adventures held an element of danger in them. And they got in trouble frequently for being in places they shouldn't be, but Savron's adventures rarely ended badly.

"Yesterday I saw some frogweeds out in the forest." Savron gestured to the mushroom forest with a paw. "So I figured we should hunt some frogweeds. You know, hone our skills in real combat, while exploring the forest."

Typhous and Sleet exchanged worried glances. Savron saw their reluctance and smiled winningly at them.

"Come on, they're no tougher than those Ape dummies, and what's the harm in a little fun? It'll be great!"

"I don't know Sav." Sleet muttered. "You picked the wrong pair to go hunting with."

"I conquer." Typhous agreed. "Sleet here couldn't fight close quarters for his life, and can barely manage to take one of those Ape dummies in a straight fight. Plus I don't like violence. Exploring is great but…"

Savron looked between the two of them, seeing his grand plan falling apart.

"There is no one else who can come with me guys. Igneous has his reading assignment, Tirren has her leadership class. And Zindy has her art project to work on. You're the only two who can come with me… I don't want to explore alone."

Sleet and Typhous looked at each other guiltily, Savron was near to tears. They both knew he was faking it, but that wouldn't change the guilt they would feel at abandoning their friend.

"Fine, but you **owe** us Sav." Typhous sighed. Savron looked at them wiping the imaginary tears from his eyes and grinned.

"Fair enough. Just one hour I promise." The three set off into the forest.

Up high in a mushroom tree a cloaked figure sat. Beneath his hood yellow fur spotted with black peeked through. A small muzzle and two large ears poked through the hood of his cloak. A bow and quiver of arrows were strapped to his back, and a sabre rested on his hip.

The cheetah watched as the three dragons stepped boldly into the forest. The ice and wind dragons following the noble purple as they marched. The cloaked feline waited until they were almost out of sight before following them into the forest.

* * *

High up in one of the Temple's many spires, a young red dragon lay on his bed of plush cushions reading. Sunlight shone through the large arched windows, small trinkets and toys lay scattered across the floor. The large door to Igneous's bedroom creaked open, and the pink head of an adult dragoness poked though.

"Ah, Iggy, you're still reading? I just can't believe Spyro would make you read that rubbish text book." Ember, Igneous's mother said exasperated.

"O-oh mom, it's you!" Igneous hastily closed the book and shoved it in the bed of cushions. "It's not that bad, you just have to read past the cover." Igneous swallowed nervously, hoping his mom didn't notice the slight blush that was hidden by his red scales. He had been pleasantly shocked to discover the secret of the text book, and found its contents much to his liking. He was only supposed to have read chapter three to six. He was on eleven now.

"Well you should take a break none the less. It's a beautiful day outside. Oh! And you have a visitor." Ember opened the door wider and an emerald green dragoness stepped in. She was very attractive by dragon standards, being both slim and curvy. The strong muscles that layered her only served to accent her features. Four horns adorned her head like a crown, twisting together at the base before separating. She wore little jewelry, consisting of the sapphire necklace that matched her eyes perfectly, and the emerald studded rings she wore on her upper pair of horns.

She walked with regal grace into the room, and then nodded at Ember.

"Thank you miss, but could you leave us alone now?" Ember giggled and waved.

"Alright, I'll leave you two love birds alone." Ember closed the door behind her and Igneous groaned. When Ember was gone, the emerald dragoness's formal expression cracked into a smile. She turned to face Igneous.

"Well **Iggy**, how has your day been?" She spoke lightly, her words echoing silent laughter. Igneous frowned.

"Tirren, only mom can call me that." The red dragon's frown fell away, revealing a wide grin beneath. "So what are you doing here? I thought you had a leadership program going on?"

"I did." Tirren laughed, walking closer to Igneous, who sat up leaving the book behind. "But I finished it an hour early."

"That's Tirren all right. Motivating the masses with her quick wit and silver tongue." Igneous remarked with a smile.

"That's Igneous for you." Tirren responded smiling back. "Stating the obvious while trying to get the girl."

Igneous blushed. "S-so what are you doing here Rin?" Igneous repeated, stuttering slightly.

"Well I figured we could go for a walk out in the gardens. Since you don't have any classes right now."

"That sounds great!" Igneous said happily. "I finished the reading assignment Spyro gave me. Let's go!"

Tirren gave the book on the bed a glance; a look of horror crossing over her face.

"I didn't know Spyro was so cruel as to make you read **that** book!"

"Oh! No! It's not really a text book. It's a bunch of novels put together in a text book cover."

"Really?" Tirren asked intrigued. She stepped up and picked up the book. "I didn't think the purple savior was so sneaky." She opened the book at random and examined the page. She blushed furiously and hastily put the book back down. "Or this pervy."

Her comment made Igneous chuckle, which Tirren echoed. "Well since you're done **studying**, let's go for a stroll."

Together Igneous and Tirren walked over to the door. The two slipped through a sitting room where Ember sat painting. The pink dragoness gave the two a wave as they slipped out into the hallway. The hall was sparsely crowded with students, dragons of every colour and sex strolled down the hall chatting. Igneous and Tirren joined the crowd and moved towards the landing platform not far away.

They reached the platform only to find a large red dragon landing there. He wore ceremonial armour, embellished with patterns of fire. A large crest on the chest piece marked him as the captain of the Temple guard. Igneous rushed up to meet the steel clad figure, a large grin plastered to his face.

"Hey dad!" The red dragon looked down at Igneous and grinned. His smile mostly hidden under his helmet.

"Igneous! Out and about now are you. I guess that means you're done reading that horrid book?"

"Yes master Flame, we're just going out for a stroll." Tirren answered for Igneous. Flame looked down at the green dragoness and grinned.

"Good, you young dragons need to get out more. Studying isn't everything you know." Flame turned to address his son once more. "So how was the studying?"

"It was… Interesting." Igneous responded managing not to blush.

Flame frowned. "Really? I hated that book. I don't know why Spyro kept his. I burned mine when I finished. Couldn't stand to look at that thing for another minute." Flame winked at the two.

"Well I got to get going. Ember is waiting for me to bring her the latest gossip. Catch you later." Flame walked past them and into the hall. The crowd opened up for the Captain of the Guard, letting him pass undisturbed. His ceremonial armour rattled as he strode away.

"All right let's go Igneous!" Tirren laughed as she ran onto the landing platform and took off. Igneous following close behind her.

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the mushroom cap canopy above. The air both murky and dank held the rank odour of rotting vegetation, in the ever swampy forests surrounding the Temple. Savron, Sleet and Typhous trudged along through the undergrowth, stepping around mud pools that Sleet identified as sinkholes. The three tried to remain as close to dry land as possible, but found themselves crossing more and more muddy patches and stagnant pools.

"Ugh, this is disgusting!" Typhous complained from the back of the line. "My scarf is ruined!" Typhous pulled his now torn and muddy scarf from yet another bramble patch, trying to stay as far from the soggy mud as possible.

"Well you shouldn't have brought it to the swamp then Typhous." Savron remarked, a wicked grin playing on his face.

"Technically this isn't the swamp." Sleet corrected Savron. "The swamp is farther into the forest. It is far worse than what we have gone through now. With more sinkholes, toxic fumes and…"

"We get it smarty tail." Savron interrupted Sleet, who scowled at Savron. The three dragons trudged on in silence for a few minutes before Typhous shouted out.

"I see a frogweed! It's over there!" Savron and Sleet turned to where the muddy wind dragon pointed. A small plant like creature surfaced out of the mud. It had red appendages extending out of it like tiny arms. A large mouth opened out of it like that of frog's, and a thick green tongue stuck out. It let out a croak, and all around the three dragons more frogweeds appeared out of the mud.

"It looks like we walked straight into their nest." Sleet commented, as he cowered behind Savron.

"More fun for us." Savron grinned, small bursts of flame flickered from his nostrils.

"Oh dear, I hope my scarf survives this." Typhous sighed, extending his claws. The frogweeds moved slowly, creeping across the ground. Savron struck first, spitting a ball of fire into a small cluster of the creatures. They burst into flame, shrieking they hopped back into the mud. Typhous released a blast of wind, catching a stray frogweed and hurling it into the air. With a quick snort in its direction Typhous sent two blades of air at the flying weed. It was sliced into a fine salad. Sleet cowered behind the two, too afraid to attack.

"Typhous cover me, I'm going in!" Savron yelled, and charged at the oncoming wave of frogweeds. Savron unleashed a blaze of flame as he reached them, reducing several to ash. Then Savron used his claws and horns to rip the frogweeds apart. Typhous sent blasts of wind at the weeds that got too close to the purple dragon.

Sleet watched the carnage with awe, and then movement caught his eye. Several frogweeds were approaching from behind, unnoticed by Typhous or Savron. Realising that neither would react in time to stop them Sleet stood up. Gathering all his courage he prepared to attack. The frogweeds pounced; Sleet shut his eyes tightly and unleashed his attack. Cold magic energy flowed up into the small ice dragon, exploding from his maw in a torrent of liquid ice.

Both Typhous and Savron felt a wave of cold air hit them; the soggy ground beneath them freezing instantly. They turned to Sleet, and their eyes widened. Sleet stood quivering in front of a small garden of frozen Frogweeds, the mushroom trees behind them were pillars of ice crystals. The area around Sleet was covered in frost, and his breath came out in clouds of steam.

The last frogweeds retreated back into the forest, their mud holes frozen solid by the scrawny dragon's power.

"Awesome Sleet! I see you have been practicing control. Not two weeks ago you would have frozen us too!" Savron shouted, laughing. Sleet flushed and gave Savron a shy smile.

"Yes, very splendid. Savron we have hunted some frogweeds, can we go back now?" Typhous asked, eagerly. Savron frowned.

"It has only been what, twenty minutes since we left? We still have loads of time to hunt. And admit it Typhous, you had fun." The grey wind dragon sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"I admit it was thrilling, but we really should go back now. We might miss lunch and I am famished."

"Don't worry about lunch, I brought some with me." Savron opened a pouch he wore around his neck and pulled out some wrapped food. Typhous swiped a wrapped turkey leg from Savron's paws and began gnawing, ripping the cooked flesh from the bone. Sleet and Savron each took some food from the pouch and chowed down. Savron was the first to finish; he looked up and addressed the two.

"Are either of you hurt?"

Typhous looked up at the purple curiously."No. Why do you need to…? No! No you didn't!"

Savron grinned and shook the pouch depositing several small glowing red crystals into his paw.

"Where did you get life crystals?" Sleet gawked at the glowing shards. Life crystals were the rarest and most valuable of all dragon stones. Capable of healing a wound instantly, they had become a rare commodity when the dragons had returned. The red crystals had been harvested from the land until only a few natural patches of crystal remained. Only the richest of dragons could afford to buy more than a handful of the life giving jewels. The Temple sported the largest crystal garden in the Dragon realms, and made a tidy sum off of the slowly growing crystals.

"I swiped them from dad's supply room. I only took a few, just in case."

"You… you idiot! We will get into more trouble than any adventure you could possibly conceive just by taking those gems! What were you **thinking**?" Typhous roared at Savron, who gave the wind dragon an injured look before slipping the shards back into the pouch.

"I was only thinking of our welfare. But if you are so worried about it I won't use them, even if you're hurt. That way no one will ever know we took the crystals." Savron turned away from the two abruptly and walked deeper into the forest.

"You know, he probably was thinking about us when he brought those crystals." Sleet whispered. Typhous nodded, sighing. Then the grey took off after the purple, Sleet right behind him.

"Sav!" Typhous shouted, racing up behind his purple friend. "Wait up!" Savron stopped and glanced back at Typhous who stood panting.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. You were only thinking about our wellbeing, and it wasn't right of me to tell you off. I'm sorry." Savron smiled at the grey, forgiving.

"It's all right; I understand why you would be so concerned about me taking life crystals. But my dad has a chest full of them, he wouldn't miss a few."

"Hey Sav, did you happen to bring any magic crystals, I'm feeling a little tired here." Sleet asked, wheezing, having just caught up. Savron pulled three small green crystals from his pouch and passed one to each of them. They popped each into their mouths and swallowed. Immediately they felt rejuvenated, and ready for another fight. Magic crystals were far more common than life crystals, and far less expensive. They restored a dragon's supply of magical energy, allowing an exhausted dragon to continue fighting long after they should have collapsed.

"Um guys." Typhous murmured as the other two stretched, exhilarated from the energy producing crystals. "We may have a problem."

"What?" Savron asked, glancing over to the wind dragon, who stood eyes wide, gazing at the monster that approached them. It was a hulking monstrosity of eight legs. Its green body was covered in plant life and fungus; a bulbous head supported nine glowing red eyes. It hissed and advanced on the three dragons.

"Oh crap! It's a bulb spider!" Sleet whimpered, cowering behind Savron who stood boldly.

"Oh come on, Sleet. It's only one spider, we can take it." Savron declared confidently. As if on cue more hissing erupted around the dragons. A dozen or so more bulb spiders, each larger than the dragons scuttled from holes nearby, or clambered down trees.

"Damn it Sav!" Typhous shouted at Savron, who stood shocked, muzzle agape. "You know better than to say things like that! Fate just loves to prove cocky dragons wrong!" The spiders encircled the dragons, hissing at the intruders. They stayed just out of range, scuttling around, looking for weakness.

"Well, we're dragons, we…we can take them. I squish spiders all the time, no big deal." Savron boasted, his voice quavering, betraying his doubt.

"We're outnumbered, six to one. We're surrounded, and a long ways from home with no help likely to come. It will take a miracle to get us out of this!" Sleet sobbed, defeated.

"Way to drown our hopes Sleet." Savron growled, more at the arachnids than his friend.

"We can win Sleet. If we continue to hope, and work together we can take these filthy beasts." Typhous said soothingly, patting the shoulder of his distraught friend. "But we need your help." Sleet looked up at the wind dragon, whose ruined scarf flapping in the breeze.

Sleet tried to smile. "Alright, I'll try. I don't want to die here."

"Then let's go!" The dragons faced back to back, towards the horde of bulb spiders. Each readied their powers, hoping to take down as many as possible before engaging in a claw to fang fight. The arachnids charged, scuttling across the sodden ground towards their prey.

The three struck with all their elemental fury. Typhous sent gusts of tornado force winds that blew the spiders into nearby trees with sickening cracks. Savron released arcs of lightning, his strongest element into the advancing horde. Causing the beasts to spasm and twitch as the electricity coursed through their thick bodies. While most devastating of them all, Sleet unleashed his power, keeping a tight control of each attack. The small dragon fired barely contained bursts of icy liquid into the horde, turning spiders into ice sculptures.

By the time the horde of arachnids reached the three dragons half of their numbers had been slain, lying broken behind them. The bulb spiders attacked. Leaping and spinning they struck at the three with razor sharp legs. Savron leapt to the side, narrowly dodging the green beast's attack. The purple dragon rammed the spider when it stopped, and hurled it into another that was preparing to attack Typhous. The grey was desperately trying to defend Sleet, who was helpless in the close quarters fight.

"Ty! Keep Sleet safe! I will try and hold them off!" Savron shouted, clawing at a nearby spider. The grey spared Savron a nod before tearing at a spider with his tail blade. Savron turned back to the spiders in front of him, which charged the young purple dragon. Taking a deep breath, and summoning some of his last reserves of power, Savron expelled a column of molten flame. The spiders reared back from the fire, exposing their soft bellies. Savron seeing an opening charged the beasts and rammed his sharp horns into stomach of the nearest spider, bowling it over. Wasting no time he clawed at the soft belly of the bulb spider tearing it open. It writhed for a moment before falling still.

Sleet cowered behind Typhous, who was rapidly weakening from the constant attacks the spiders launched. Typhous was nearly out of magical energy, and was now forced to engage the beasts head on. His slim body was fast but not strong, and he was barely bruising their ego. He held the beasts back only by the speed alone. Typhous was covered in scratches and cuts, his scarf was missing and his jewelry was encrusted with mud.

One spider snuck through Typhous's defense and pounced at the cowering Sleet. Typhous saw the attack but was too late to stop the strike. Sleet screamed as the beast reared up, the ice dragon cringed and waited for the blow. Instead he heard a buzzing sound and a thud. Opening his eyes he saw an arrow protruding from the eyes of the bulb spider, as it fell over dead.

Sleet looked up as a figure descended to the ground, holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in another, the cloaked cheetah nocked another arrow and sent it flying into the horde. Taking another spider in the eye.

"Hunter!" Sleet cried his heart filling with hope. Savron turned from finishing off a third spider to look for the cloaked figure. He saw the cloaked feline strike down the second spider with a precisely aimed shot. Then the purple's eyes fell on Typhous. He and Sleet were surrounded by the last spiders, who were overcoming the weakened grey's defenses with ease.

"I'm coming guys!" Savron roared, as he charged the horde of beasts. Gathering the last of his magic energy to himself.

_"Focus all of my power to my paws, and turn it in a spiral."_ Savron thought, as he reached the monstrosities. Releasing the magic in a slow but steady stream, he reared up on his hind paws and lifted from the ground. Spinning in a whirl of icy wind and shards of ice the purple slammed into the spiders, ploughing through them like a strong wind through loose leaves. The spiders flew backwards away from the exhausted pair, who sighed with relief. Savron spinning slowed, and then came to a stop. The purple smiled smugly at Sleet.

"Told you I could do it." Sleet nodded, smiling with relief, then a movement caught his eye.

"Savron look out!" Sleet shouted, getting to his feet. From up high on a tree a spider launched itself at the purple dragon. Hunter saw it coming and fired a desperate shot at it, but missed. The beast landed on the purple, with a loud thud, Savron roared with pain as the spider began to claw at the helpless dragon.

"No!" Typhous roared, rushing up to aid Savron, tears running down his face. Typhous felt something inside him snap open, a flood of power poured through him. The grey, unable to control the energy, released it all at once. The remaining spiders flew into the air as a torrent of wind exploded around Typhous. A huge whirlwind caught the spiders and slammed them against trees, tearing rocks from the ground and slamming boulders into the dying arachnids. As a final act of vengeance, the bodies of the dead spiders were torn to pieces by blades of wind that Typhous sent in his fury.

The wind calmed and the corpses of their foes fell from the sky. Sleet got shakily to his feet, gazing at the torn battleground around him. Typhous staggered over to Savron who lay unmoving nearby.

"Sav! Sav are you okay?" The young purple stirred and his eyes cracked open.

"That…was…awesome." Savron croaked, then he shivered and fell silent.

"Get up, come on get up!" Typhous moaned, shaking the unmoving form of Savron. Suddenly Typhous teetered and collapsed to the ground. Sleet ran up to the fallen grey but Hunter reached him first.

"Typhous is alright." The cheetah said, removing his hood. His fur was speckled with grey and silver hairs. "He's just exhausted from the fury he unleashed. Savron however is in greater danger."

"How bad is he?" Sleet asked, fear washing over him. The cheetah looked at the skinny ice dragon. Seeing the fear in his eyes, he smiled comfortingly.

"He should be alright. His wounds aren't fatal, but we should bring him to the infirmary just to be safe."

Sleet nodded in agreement. Then a thought struck him. "How will we get them back to the Temple? They are far too large to carry..." Hunter nodded in agreement. He placed his hands on Sleets shoulders and looked the young dragon in the eyes.

"I will go for help. You stay here and protect them. Okay?"

Sleet was about to object but Hunter silenced him.

"You won't be able to find your way back here if you go. Plus I move faster than you in the forest. Trust me; I will be back with help soon." Sleet slumped, and nodded in agreement. Hunter patted the young dragon on the head and left without another word. His cloaked form quickly disappearing into the trees. Sleet sat down, and cast a glance back over his two fallen friends.

"Please hurry, I don't want to be left alone." The young ice dragon lay down, shivering in the cold dampness of the swamp. It was going to be a long wait.

* * *

"…And that's how I got this scar from a cheese wheel." Igneous finished his long and ridiculous story, smiling as Tirren burst into another fit of laughter. Birds startled by the emerald green dragoness's guffaws, took flight from the surrounding trees. The two walked through a spacious garden, beds of flowers all beginning to bloom cast a rainbow of colours.

A small path of stones wound through a glade of trees and patches of flowers leading around the garden. The two friends strode amidst the plant life, smelling flowers and enjoying the feel of grass under their paws. This garden was their favourite, due to its natural feel, and many colourful flowers.

"You're kidding me! Moles don't fly!" Tirren gasped through fits of laughter. Igneous grinned.

"This one did. And it did it fairly well, considering he was holding a brick of fruit cake and a feather duster." Igneous replied, to an explosion of giggles from his friend.

"You are such a fibber! You're no better than Savron!"

"I'm not lying! And Savron doesn't lie… much. He just exaggerates a lot and likes to tell stories." Igneous declared defensively.

"You mean like how he **didn't** lie about sneaking in to the female's corridor to try and take a peek?" Tirren countered smoothly. Igneous stopped in his tracks, and looked at Tirren dumbfounded.

"How did you…?" Igneous stuttered as Tirren turned to face the shocked fire dragon.

"You were outside my rooms when he suggested peeking. I heard the whole thing."

"Oh." Igneous whispered, a dark blush crept over his face, and his head drooped.

"I appreciate you trying to stop him though." Tirren commented as she saw the shame well up in her friend. Igneous glanced up at her and smiled weakly. He realised she was trying to cheer him up.

"You're welcome." He murmured, grateful. The two walked in silence for a time, admiring the scenery and enjoying the fresh air.

"You know, I think he knew that was my room." Tirren broke the silence after a time. "He has a thing for me, too bad I have no interest in a dragon like him." Igneous smirked.

"That's probably the reason he likes you so much. You're one of the only dragonesses here who isn't trying to get his attention."

Tirren was about to reply when a strong, sneering voice cut in to their conversation.

"And here I thought you would be up in your room studying for your upcoming history test. Ancestors know you will need all the help you can get Igneous." Tirren and Igneous looked towards the source of the voice, and saw a fire dragon leading a small gang of dragons down the path towards them.

The speaker, Torch was a large red dragon; he was as big as Igneous with two horns, and a golden crest crowning his. He moved with a regal grace, and was dressed lavishly. Golden silks were draped across his muscular form, and a pendant of the finest craft hung around his neck. Behind him strolled three other dragons, the ice dragoness Wintra, Thunder the yellow, and Voltlyn.

Wintra was a frosty blue colour; she was graced with four horns that curled back like claws. Wintra was slim and curvy, and was considered the most attractive dragoness in the Temple. She was dressed as richly as Torch and bore the same air of importance, which was hampered only slightly by her being the smallest dragon there. Thunder the largest dragon of the group smiled wickedly. Two horns thrust forward like bolts of lightning and ran just above his eye level. He was a vibrant yellow and his chuckle rumbled through the garden like a drum roll.

Voltlyn was a topaz yellow, and like Thunder was a lightning dragon. She was built thicker than most females in the Temple, but was still fairly attractive. Her two horns curved gracefully over her head, curling towards each other but never touching. Her face ended in a delicate beak, which contrasted with her companions' muzzles. She walked stiffly, eyes downcast, never meeting anyone else's gaze, her face empty of expression.

Igneous growled as the group came to a stop in front of them.

"What do you want Torch?" Igneous demanded of the sneering red, unable to hide the snarl in his voice.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your latest escapade!" Torch laughed making Igneous frown, eyes narrowing.

"What do you mean by that?" Igneous growled, small tongues of flame flickering from his nostrils.

"It's just I wasn't sure if you had any interest in females, and I was starting to worry." Torch's fangs were bared in a huge grin, behind him Thunder burst into a roaring laugh. Igneous made no attempt to hide his snarl now. He and Torch were archrivals, always competing, trying to outdo the other. It was common knowledge that he and Torch were evenly matched, both possessed unparalleled control over fire. They were top students in the Temple, having the highest marks in every class. At the moment Torch held the title of top student, with Igneous a close second. Igneous wasn't sure why Torch kept competing against him, but he suspected it had something to do with the Guardian succession.

Igneous crouched, flames flickering from between his bared teeth. But before he could respond Tirren stepped in front of Igneous and addressed Torch.

"And why were you worried that Igneous might not be interested in females?" Tirren inquired icily. "Oh! Was it because you were worried he might steal your lovers?" A smile broke through Igneous's scowl and from behind Torch Thunder burst into great guffaws.

"Shut up!" Wintra cuffed Thunder over the head. He turned to face her sharply, fangs bared. Torch's smile was gone in an instant, replaced with a scowl of his own. Wintra stepped up cutting off any response Torch might have made.

"Well, Miss Teacher's Pet has a poison tongue doesn't she? I bet it came in handy when you invited the crimson oaf and the pampered purple for a tumble in the night hmm?"

Tirren stepped back, her mouth hanging open in shock at the ice dragoness's wicked implication. A smile returned to Torch's face as Tirren tried to regain her composure. Thunder who was enjoying the scene immensely nudged Voltlyn with his wing. The topaz dragoness was examining a patch of nearby flowers impassively, ignoring the two dragonesses squaring off.

"You would know Wintra; you must have slept with half of the males in the Temple by now." Tirren spat, her face livid. Igneous watched with awe as the two dragonesses started exchanging insults that would raise the hair off a bald Ape. The two quickly ran out of insults and descended to name calling.

"Bitch!" Wintra snarled.

"Slut!" Tirren countered.

"Prosdrake!" Wintra hissed. Tirren flinched and Wintra grinned victoriously. As the ice dragoness turned to leave, Tirren caught Wintra's eyes.

"Heraclene." The emerald green dragoness murmured, loud enough for everyone to hear. Wintra froze, Torch and Thunder looked at Tirren shocked, and Voltlyn glanced up from the flowers her jaw falling open in horror. Igneous looked between the four's shocked expressions puzzled, having no idea what Heraclene meant.

Wintra screamed in fury and pounced on Tirren who rolled out from under her. The two began to claw at one another, their rage fueling their bloodlust. The two clawed and bit, Tirren pinned Wintra down, and the two screamed in fury as they fought.

From high up a loud roar halted the two fighting dragonesses, everyone looked up. A huge earth dragon plummeted from the sky and landed beside the combatants with a crash, sending up a spray of earth.

"Stop this at once!" The dragon bellowed. Tirren and Wintra disengaged and stood to attention.

"Master Terrador I…" Tirren stammered before being cut off by Terrador's powerful voice.

"Silence! Tirren you know the rules, all combat between students must be fought in the arena, and only after a challenge has been declared!" Terrador looked between the two dragonesses who stared up at the Earth Guardian with fear. Terrador felt a twinge of regret that he had been so harsh, but he refused to back down.

"It is clear that a challenge has been declared, so you will resolve your issues tomorrow at noon, understood?" The two dragonesses nodded vigorously. "Then be off with you! Classes are about to begin." Terrador turned to Tirren as Torch and his gang left hurriedly.

"Tirren," Terrador voice softened slightly as he gazed down at the stricken dragoness. "I don't care what your reasons are, but you should never be goaded into a fight. I'm sure you wouldn't have started this, but that is no excuse for continuing the confrontation. I will see you in class." Terrador turned and took off; his powerful wing beats nearly blowing Tirren and Igneous off their feet.

When the Earth Guardian finally disappeared around one of the Temple spires, Igneous walked over to Tirren, whose head hung low to the ground.

"Don't worry about it Tirren. I was about to rip that smug smile from Torch's face myself, and then I would have been in for it. But you did a way better job than I could have. The look on his face was priceless!" Igneous smiled, trying to cheer Tirren up.

"Yeah, it was pretty funny." Tirren agreed, smiling back at Igneous.

"Come on let's go to class, advanced combat is next right? I can show you a few tricks I've learned to help with tomorrow's fight." With Igneous in the lead the two made their way back to the Temple, taking shortcuts through bushes and flowerbeds. They were silent for a time, but finally Igneous couldn't hold it in anymore and asked.

"What was that Heraclene thing about? Like I know that a prosdrake is about as bad an insult you can get, seeing as they sell their bodies for money. But judging from Wintra's reaction, I think Heraclene is a lot worse." Tirren looked at Igneous as he paused to catch his breath and giggled.

"It is probably the worst thing you can say to a noble. Family feuds have been started because of that insult. I don't think you want to know, it's kind of gross."

"I think I can handle it." Igneous said, relieved to have Tirren her cheerful self again. Tirren thought about it for a moment, trying to decide how best to tell her friend. Then she shrugged and spoke calmly.

"Well a few years ago a noble dragoness named Heraclene was very bored, so she decided to go on an adventure. She flew up to the mountains and took shelter in a cave, too late she realised…" Tirren began whispering into Igneous's ear. His face turned from interest, to dread, to horror in a matter of seconds as she continued to whisper.

"…She enjoyed it so much that she came back every month for her **special** treatment. Eventually she was caught and banished for her actions. And that's the story behind Heraclene." Tirren finished blandly. Igneous was busy wretching, horribly disturbed by the mental images running through his head.

"Sorry but I did warn you." Tirren smirked unsympathetically.

"Now I know… why Wintra… attacked you." Igneous gasped through a heaving stomach.

"Yeah, it's the worst insult to be compared to Heraclene. When I was first told what it meant I had the same reaction as you." In the distance a loud bell began to toll, Tirren and Igneous looked up then at each other.

"We're late!" The two shouted in unison. Heaving stomach forgotten they dashed into the Temple and down the hall towards their next class.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Igneous

Savron

Tirren

Sleet

Typhous

Torch

Thunder

Wintra

Voltlyn

Oh boy is Savron in trouble now! It was a blast to write this chapter, but took forever! Now you have met most of the characters, there are still a few left before the gang is complete. Speaking of characters, I'm putting character information up on my profile, if you want to know a bit more about the characters in Dark Legacy, go there. I would be grateful if you reviewed or messaged me about your opinions on my writing. That way I can improve any mistakes I make, and know if my work is appreciated or not. Thanks for reading!

Edit: April 3 2012 Changed a little more than usual on this one. I'm still shocked at how much I've improved in the period of time it took to write this story. There is so much I found in this chapter that I would have immediately cut out of my current chapters, for breaking my personal rules. Still, I'll be leaving most of it intact as a reminder of how much has changed since I've started, and of what I should be watching out for. Most of the major changes in these past couple chapters were alterations on some dialogue or sentences I felt could use some more clarification, with less of the blandness. Hopefully this'll help out a bit more. :3


	5. Breaking Ties

Chapter 5: Breaking Ties

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, Warfang, the Temple, or any other place or character that belongs to the Spyro franchise. I also do not own Apple, Microsoft, McDonalds or a pet dog. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter. Their names are listed at the bottom._

The sun broke over the horizon, casting its golden light over Warfang. Birds sang joyfully in the beautiful spring morning, dew clung to the leaves of the nearby tree. Puddles of rain water, from last night's storm lay waiting for the children of Warfang to splash through them. Lying on his pile of colourful cushions, Lyrith slept, his white scales shining in the morning light.

Lyr turned on his bed fitfully, caught between sleep and conscious thought. A small voice deep within Lyrith nagged at him to get up, that something important was going to happen. From outside his room, a crash sounded as a clumsy cook dropped a plate of food. Finally Lyr's eyes opened, sleep still tugging at his vision. He gazed around the room, something was different, but he couldn't quite put a claw on it.

He stretched slowly and got up, sluggishly the white dragon walked past his table, where something caught his eye. A white envelope, its wax seal broken, lay on the table, its contents scattered across the table. It all came back to Lyr. He snatched up the letter's contents and examined it, wanting to confirm what it said one more time. As Lyrith read the letter, memories of last night returned to him in an instant.

...

Thunder crashed overhead, accompanied by the soft patter of rain on the forest canopy. Lyr stared at Inferna in shock, her announcement stunned him. Inferna waited expectantly for his reply, while the young ice dragoness stretched out her sore body. Suddenly Lyrith began to laugh. Inferna looked at him shocked, not expecting this response.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lyrith laughed, unable to control his chuckles. "I've lived in that fucking orphanage for my whole damn life, I've seen countless dragons come in to adopt, and not even glance in my direction. Teachers, who are **paid** to teach dragons like me, took one look at me and turned me away! Now a **Guardian** wants me, an Albino lizard, to be her student! Hah! What a laugh!"

Both dragonesses were clearly shocked at his response, which gave Lyrith a sense of immense satisfaction. He had fallen for ploys like this before, a dragon would put on a show, and an unlucky sucker would take the bait. The dragon would offer the 'prey' a deal, and he would accept the dragon would lead the victim to a secluded area and take their gold, take a hostage, or molest them. This was an all too familiar scene to Lyrith, and he wouldn't fall for one now.

"Oh, it was convincing enough. Using magical dummies to lure me in, a hostage to pull my heart strings. Where you went wrong was the Guardian bit, **miss**. No one would possibly believe that a Guardian would want an Albino! What I'm curious about is what you wanted from me, so bad that you set this all up."

Inferna's puzzled expression suddenly cleared, understanding dawned on the dragoness. She giggled, much to Lyrith's irritation.

"Oh! Now I get it! You thought me a fraud! I suppose it is a bit unlikely a Guardian would show up out of nowhere and suddenly ask you to be her apprentice. But I really am the Guardian of Flame. And if you still don't believe me, here's my proof." Around Inferna's neck hung several amulets, a pendant of silver with an opal jewel, which looked too small for her. A string of gold beads and a medallion of gold. She took the medallion and showed it to Lyrith. He sucked in a breath; the medallion was a Guardian seal. She smiled at his shocked expression.

"As you well know, it is forbidden to create a copy of a Guardian seal. The punishment for possessing a fake guardian seal is death, just as the punishment for creating such seals. Are you now satisfied that I am truly who I claim to be?" Lyrith looked up at the Fire Guardian, awed at being in such a famous dragon's presence.

"But, why?" he asked, confusion in his voice. "Why would you want me? I'm an Albino. I'm not special; I have no powers, no wealth or even an education to my name. How am I worthy of becoming a student at the Temple?" Lyrith demanded, overcoming his awe. In answer the Guardian gestured at the battle field.

"How are you so humble after destroying thirteen magical dummies, a feat few true dragons your age could achieve?" Lyrith blinked, and examined the corpses around him.

"There are many reasons why I should take you as a student, Lyrith. You have defeated more than a dozen Apes without elemental magic; you have employed tactics into your fighting style. You have shown that you are both strong, and brilliant, and I bet you would excel at more than just fighting. I could also hazard a guess that you have danced with death on more than one occasion. Which is more than any of our students have done. You understand how risky real combat is, and take precautions against such hazards. But most importantly of all…"

"You have a heart." The young dragoness cut in. Inferna smiled at the little dragoness, who walked up to the Albino, still stained with the dummies fake blood.

"Yes you have a heart; you have shown that you will risk your life for the good of others, even when the odds are stacked against you. All of these are qualities we Guardians look for. The only difference between you and the other students we have recruited is that you lack the polish the others have grown up with."

Lyrith stood up straighter, a smile breaking over his features, his heart swelled with pride. He was being praised by a Guardian, a hero; there was no better complement.

"Now that I have swelled your ego to the breaking point, I will say it again. I am Inferna, guardian of Flame. I want you Lyrith the Albino to be my student. Do you accept?" Lyrith didn't even have to think about the answer.

"Of course!" Lyrith cried, his voice cracking with joy. There was no other response, especially in Lyrith's position. At the Temple Lyrith would get the same education as royalty. He would be well fed for as long as he stayed there, coupled with free shelter, he would be living a dream.

"Excellent!" Inferna beamed at her new student. "I will come for you tomorrow; it will be a busy day, so get some sleep. Don't forget to pack!" The Fire Guardian handed Lyrith a sealed letter, then set off back into the forest, the young dragoness following close behind.

"How will you find me!" Lyrith shouted to the pair as they reached the clearings edge. In answer Inferna waved her tail in farewell. The young dragoness glanced back at the Albino.

"Bye!" She shouted, beaming widely at the dumbfounded drake.

"Bye." Lyrith murmured as the two dragonesses disappeared from view. Leaving the white dragon alone once more in the forest.

...

Lyrith looked up from the letter; a sense of relief filled him. It hadn't been a dream; he really was a Guardian's apprentice. He was going to the Temple, to study under the Guardians, masters of dragon lore. He would meet heroes sung in epic tales, and learn from them! His heart racing, Lyrith glanced around his room. All six of his books were neatly packed away in a burlap sack by the door. His savings moved from the chest by the south wall, was now stored in a large purse, that hung by the door with his books. Everything had been packed last night, while in a trance of joy.

The only possessions Lyr still hadn't packed were his pillows. He grabbed the many coloured cushions and hauled them over to the door. There he piled them up, not having a bag big enough to fit them all.

With all of his belongings ready to be shipped off to the Temple, Lyrith raced over to his open windows and looked outside. The sun had risen, and the inhabitants of Warfang had risen from their slumber for the new day. Children of every race splashed through the puddles of water that last night's storm had left behind. The streets were filling with the citizens of the slums, from Dragons, to Moles, to Avians.

The buildings were old and worn out, many seemed almost broken down. The people in the streets seemed to reflect their homes, they were worn and world weary. But to Lyrith, everything seemed wonderful, he no longer felt the air of hopelessness, and the reluctant acceptance that everyone here in the slums lived with. He would be going to the Temple, to learn and study. He would leave this orphanage, which had been his home and prison for all of his life.

Lyrith raced over to the door, grabbing the purse of gold, then yanking the door open and rushing through. The white dragon slammed into something solid and unyielding. Staggering backwards Lyr looked up to see Ashe, Bould and Sickle blocking his doorway. Ashe laughed as Lyr recovered from the impact.

"Well, well, look who's in a hurry today." Ashe sneered. Bould and Sickle chuckled; the three stepped into Lyrith's room, still blocking the door.

"Get out of my way Ashe," Lyrith growled menacingly at the thug's leader. "Before I give you the same treatment as I gave those two a few days back."

"Oh, I think it will be us who are giving you the treatment today whitey." Before Lyrith could react, Sickle sent a blast of wind at his feet, sending the white dragon sprawling. Bould grabbed Lyrith by the horns and hurled him back into his room. Lyr soared through the air, before slamming into his table. Lyr heard a cracking splintering noise as the table gave way beneath him.

Lyrith lay amidst the wreckage of his table stunned, Sickle as fast as lighting, grabbed Lyr and held him down. Bould followed the grey's lead. Ashe walked calmly into the room, and closed the door firmly with his tail, never breaking stride.

"It's time for some payback whitey." Ashe sneered coolly, his fangs bared in a wicked grin. "You made a fool of us two days ago, and now it's time to show you who are the top drakes around here." Bould and Sickle heaved Lyr up, keeping the white unmoving between them. Lyrith, still stunned from the impact with the table, could only struggle weakly as Ashe began to beat him with his paws. The red's claws leaving bloody cuts on the whites scaled body.

Sickle chuckled as Lyr cried out from a particularly nasty blow to the head, and got an idea. Gripping the Albino's horns, the wind dragon slammed the whites head into the ground. The three laughed hysterically at Lyrith's beaten form, lying on the stone floor.

"How does that feel you white fuck!" Sickle crowed maliciously, giving the white a swift kick. Bould enjoying himself immensely heaved Lyrith off the ground and slammed him back into the stone floor. Lyrith curled into a ball as the three tormented him, he seethed with anger as they mercilessly beat him into submission. Images began to flood through his mind, memories of his younger days. A few of the fonder memories he had of situations like this.

"Fuck off!" an adolescent Lyr spat at the half dozen dragons surrounding him. They stood in a dark alley way. Overhead the crescent moon hung, half risen. Lyr stood facing the six dragons, back against the alley wall. Lyr had six horns, most nearly full length, his bladed tail flicked from side to side; as he watched the thugs encircle him.

"Who's going to make us, squirt?" A light blue ice dragoness mocked, to the laughter of the others.

"Just give us the pouch and we'll let you go." A topaz yellow dragon said his voice reasonable. The young albino clutched his pouch tightly, it held the only money Lyr had, and he wouldn't be getting any more spending money from the orphanage for another month.

"Get lost! You have your own coin!" Lyrith snarled, trying to suppress the fear growing inside of him.

"Well, it seems the lizard wants to play rough!" A red chuckled, the others laughed as they closed in. Lyr put up a fighting stance, but felt no hope as the dragons descended upon him. Lyr beat at them, scoring a few hits before going down beneath the mass of bodies. Darkness soon followed.

A powerful blow sent the small white dragon flying, four tiny horns poked from his head, he was puny, barely mole sized. His red eyes were brimmed with tears as he skidded across the stone floor. Four adolescent dragons, two ice, one earth, and a wind, chuckled as they surrounded the prone form of the Albino dragonling. The earth dragon swiped at Lyrith with a large paw, sending him hurdling through the air. He slammed into a stone wall, and collapsed, sobbing.

"Please stop!" Lyrith wept. This wasn't fun at all. Just a few minutes ago he had asked a couple of the older orphans if they had wanted to play with him. None of the other dragonlings wanted to play with him, and he didn't know why. He always played fair, and always shared, so why would they shun him? When the older orphans agreed, he had pranced happily along behind them as they led him to an empty room on the third floor of the orphanage. There they had proceeded to beat him.

"Why are they doing this? Did I do something wrong?" Lyr thought as they surrounded him again, and casually began swiping at him with their paws, batting him between them like a ball. Lyrith could only weep as they beat him into unconsciousness.

Lyrith's eyes snapped open when he felt one of the three dragons give him a swift kick to the head. Lyrith ground his teeth, his red eyes burning with bloodlust. The three laughed and stepped away from the beaten Albino, their rage expended.

"Well, I think we're done here." Ashe chuckled cheerfully. "Let's go." The three turned away from Lyr, and back to the exit. They didn't notice their victim getting to his feet, fangs bared in a maniac snarl. With a powerful leap, Lyr hurled himself at Ashe, giving the three no warning roar. The enraged white ploughed the cocky red dragon into the stone floor, who screamed in agony as several bones snapped from the impact.

Bould turned to face the blood thirsty white, and roared when he saw his leader's broken form beneath Lyr. The earth dragon charged Lyr and swiped at him with his claw. Lyrith caught the powerful blow with a paw, and grasped it with a vice like grip. Bould tried desperately to escape as Lyrith gripped one of his hind legs in a similar grip. The Albino heaved the massive earth dragon off the floor and held him above his head, standing awkwardly on his hind paws.

Sickle watched with horror as Lyrith easily overpowered the earth dragon and pick him up like a sack of potatoes. The grey realised what Lyr was about to do when the white's red gaze fell on him. Sickle managed to yank the door open and hurl himself to the ground as Bould was hurtled through the door, where Sickle had been, and sent crashing into the stone wall. The brown earth dragon collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Sickle looked up and saw Lyrith advancing on him, an insane grin etched across his features. Sickle bolted. Behind him, Lyrith roared in his insane fury, sending a chill down the grey's spine. Sickle fled down the spiral stair case, and into the lobby. All of the orphans, having heard Lyrith's roar, stopped what they were doing to watch the panicked grey look around desperately for an escape route.

He was too late. Lyrith bounded down the stairs, his murderous eyes locked on the grey form of Sickle. He issued another battle cry and advanced. The crowd of orphans, realising what was going to happen, surrounded the pair, all eyes fixed on the two. Realising that escape was now futile, Sickle put up a fighting stance. Lyrith began stalking the grey, circling him, waiting for an opening. The crowd began to chant.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" They shouted as Lyrith closed in on his frightened prey.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" A powerful voice boomed over the crowd, silencing them instantly. Lyr who was about to pounce, felt all of his rage leave him in an instant. He recognised that voice. Lyrith whirled around and felt his heart plummet out of his chest. The crowd moved aside to let through an adult female, her body patterned in with orange and red flames. Behind her Lyr saw Ashe and Bould, limp into view. Ashe's eyes gleamed with triumph.

"Who started this?" Inferna demanded of the silent crowd, who flinched from the cold edge in her words. From behind the Fire Guardian Ashe bellowed.

"The Albino started it! He attacked us as we left our rooms!" Inferna glanced at the young red and frowned. The red's face was familiar to her; she had seen him somewhere before, but where?

"He probably saw my new ring, and wanted it for himself!" Ashe held up his claws and pointed to a silver ring etched with gold that he wore. "He's a thief!"

The crowd muttered amongst itself. Lyrith was a shady character, with a long history of violence. Ashe's claim was entirely possible. Sickle caught on to Ashe's deception immediately.

"When the lizard attacked, I managed to distract him and draw him down here so Ashe could get help! Thank you miss for coming to our rescue!" Inferna looked between the two, wavering, unsure as to what to think. Lyrith's rage boiled to the surface again. He was not going to lose everything for a bully's petty vengeance.

"Bullshit!" Lyr snarled, catching Inferna's eye once more. "These three jumped me as I left my room. Hell, they tried to mug me not two days ago!" Suddenly Inferna remembered where she had seen the red before. He was one of the three Lyrith had fought in his room, when she had decided to test him. The red dragon had tried to steal his gold then, why wouldn't he try something similar now? She took a closer look at the brown and grey that Lyrith had 'mugged' and confirmed her suspicions. Relief flooded through Inferna, glad she hadn't made a terrible mistake in her choice of a student. She glanced over at Lyrith; his red eyes flickered up to meet her gaze. She saw his fear, and his anger, but saw no deceit in his gaze.

_"For a moment,"_ Inferna thought giving Lyrith a smile. _"I almost believed those three."_ Lyrith's eyes brightened as he saw her smile, hope surged through him, and his heart lifted.

Ashe stood watching the adult dragoness, a triumphant smirk stretching across his muzzle. His smile soon faded as he saw the dragoness smile at Lyr.

_"What!"_ Ashe thought incredulously. _"Why isn't she yelling at him? Berating him? Dragging him off to the authorities? What's going on? Or does she actually believe that Albino freak?"_

"Come on Lyrith, we have places to be." Inferna gestured to the adoption office down the hall. The crowd, which had fallen silent after Lyrith's claim, erupted into a chorus of muttering.

"Does she mean to adopt Lyr?" Several dragons in the crowd muttered.

"Who would want that freak?" An ice dragon inquired of the dragoness beside him. The general opinion of the crowd felt the same. Lyrith had a history of anger issues and sudden acts of brutal violence, much like today's display. There was no one in their right mind who would want him.

Inferna strode across the hall way, Lyr following close behind; the crowd, interest peaked at the pair's actions, in hot pursuit. The two approached the receptionist desk, where a young female cheetah sat reading a small book. Inferna stopped at the desk and waited for the cheetah to notice her. The cheetah continued to read, oblivious to the red dragoness and the crowd of orphans in front of her. Inferna waited a few seconds for the receptionist to notice her, then sighed, and plucked the book from the cheetah's hands.

"I'm here to see the Mother of Dragon's Glade. Could you show me and Lyrith to her please?"

The cheetah jumped in surprise when the book was snatched away, and the huge face of the red dragoness filled her vision.

"Oh! S-sorry miss. I didn't see you there. The Mother you say. Follow me please." The receptionist got up hurriedly and opened the door to the offices. She motioned for Inferna and Lyr to enter, and then slammed the door in the orphans' faces as she followed. The orphans groaned dejectedly before separating and going back to their food and chores.

The receptionist led the way down a long hall, lined with doors, Inferna, striding gracefully after her, head held high. Lyrith scampered along behind. Inferna glanced over at Lyrith and eyed his injuries.

"Are you alright? Anything broken?" She inquired, Lyrith shook his head.

"I'm fine thanks, I've had worse. Thanks, you know, for believing me."

Inferna smiled at the young dragon, about to become her new student.

"You're welcome, in hindsight though, their story was farfetched. It didn't explain at all how you got **your** injuries."

Lyrith cracked a smile then wobbled on his feet, nearly falling over. Inferna looked at him skeptically, as the wounded dragon tried desperately to keep up with the receptionist rapid pace.

"I don't think you are fine, Lyr. It's okay if I call you Lyr right?"

Lyr nodded woozily. Inferna picked a red crystal from the purse that hung around her neck, and handed it to Lyrith, who took the red crystal with trepidation. The stone in his paws was worth a month's wages at the smelters. Inferna saw his reluctance and rolled her eyes.

"I want a healthy, functioning student. Not a half dead one. Eat it, **now**."

Lyrith smiled and popped the crystal into his muzzle, swallowing. A sense of relaxation and bliss came over him as he felt all of his pains and aches vanish, his wounds closing and bruises disappearing.

They finally reached the Mother's office, and Lyrith repressed a shudder. He had no fond memories of The Mother. She was foul, selfish and cruel, and Lyrith had had been up in her offices on more than one occasion, and never for adoption. On occasion, if an orphan had been particularly bad, she would bring them up and 'punish' them. Her punishments were as much to satisfy her own twisted fantasies as they were to keep an orphan from repeating their misdeeds.

_"But I will never have to see her again."_ Lyrith thought smugly as he entered the room with Inferna, his new teacher. _"I'm going to the Temple, which is more than that self-righteous, overbearing, evil fat ass could ever say."_

The inside of the Mothers office was well light and spacious. It was richly furnished, with thick rugs and colourful tapestries that hung from the walls. A huge oak desk dominated the center of the room. The tapestries depicted all manner of well-made images, from mountain views, to rural villages, and many, many of the Mother. The images were an uncanny representation of the ice dragoness, from the rolls of fat to the cruel sneer. Lyr was impressed there was an artist who could capture the horror of the Mother using only yarn.

_"If I had to make a picture of her, I would use Ape hair as a base, and then spread ogre vomit over it to get the rest of the detail in."_ Lyr mused "The result would look just like her.

The Mother was an ugly ice dragoness. As unpleasant to listen to as to look at. She was barrel shaped, and was almost as tall as she was round. The mother sat behind the oak desk, an exasperated expression on her face.

"What has Lyrith done this time?" She sighed, casting Lyrith an accusing glance. Lyr returned her gaze defiantly. The Mother was the first to break eye contact, sniffing and tossing her head as if he was insignificant. Inferna watched the scene, a small frown creasing her features.

"No actually, I came to relieve him of your services. He will be coming with me. Please show me the papers." The Mother leered at Lyrith, not truly paying attention. Lyr shivered at her expression.

"Don't worry. I'll deal with the punishment persona… What?" The Mother demanded, suddenly realising what Inferna said, her gaze snapping back to the Fire Guardian, who stood looking bored. "You want him? Why? He's violent, ungrateful, rude…"

"Give me the papers." Inferna repeated evenly, her voice showing only a little anger.

"He has no manners, no education…"

"Give me the **papers.**" Inferna narrowed her eyes, anger beginning to boil over. The Mother continued on, oblivious.

"He's has a criminal record, and he's an **Albino**. Why would you want…"

"GIVE ME THE DAMN PAPERS!" Inferna roared, shaking the whole office. Lyr leapt away from Inferna with a startled yelp. The Mother cowered behind her desk as Inferna reared up, wreathed in flame, jets of fire shooting from her flared nostrils, scorching the desk. The heat was intense; it felt to Lyr, as he cowered behind one of the tapestries, like standing beside a bonfire.

Realisation flooded over The Mother's face as she watched Inferna scorch her desk. The stacks of papers that lay on the wooden surface were incinerated as the streams of flame carved holes through the hard wood.

"M-madam Inferna!" The Mother stuttered as the flames died away, and Inferna stood breathing hard. The bright flame of her anger faded away. The Mother scrambled out from behind the desk and prostrated herself in front of the Fire Guardian.

"Forgive me for not recognising you sooner! I let myself waste your time, please…"

"Enough." Inferna huffed, a look of disgust crossing over her face as she glanced down at the grovelling heap of jelly that called herself a dragon. "Just bring me the papers."

"Of course my lady." The mother rushed over to the shelves stacked with papers, her flab bouncing in her haste. The Mother muttered to herself as she searched through the papers. Lyrith crept out from behind the tapestry, his jaw slack with disbelief. He had never even seen the Mother nod her head in deference to any being, let alone grovel.

Lyr looked up at Inferna and suddenly realised exactly who and what she was. She was a figure of myth and legend. A dragoness who had faced Malefor in a duel to the death and survived. A dragoness whom the Five Kings, the absolute rulers of the Dragon Realms would bow in respect to her decisions. A dragoness he would be learning from.

"Ah! Here it is!" The Mother exclaimed pulling out a crisp, clean parchment. "Here are his papers Lady Inferna. Do you need a quill?"

"Yes thank you." Inferna said taking the quill offered to her. She read over the papers, taking careful note of the wording, and then signed it with a flourish. She handed the papers back to the Mother, who looked over them with an air of disappointment. Lyrith remembered with a shudder, her once referring to him as her 'favourite toy', which sickened him greatly. The Mother slipped the papers into an envelope beneath her desk.

"Do you need anything else Lady Inferna?" The Mother asked a too sweet smile plastered to her face.

"No, we will be leaving now." Inferna turned and strode out of the office; Lyrith followed her, glad to be away from the Mother. The female cheetah, who had waited outside the office, led the two back to the lobby. There they found the crowd of orphans loitering, trying to make it look like they were working, while they waited for the outcome. When they saw the two leave the offices, they dropped all pretences of work and watched the two as they walked towards the door.

"Are all of your belongings packed Lyr?" Inferna asked, stopping at the doorway. Lyrith had nearly forgotten about his belongings and nodded, gripping his savings that still hung about his neck.

"Yeah, they're up in my room."

"Good." Inferna gave off a shrill whistle, and a troop of moles, all finely dressed marched into the orphanage. Ashe, who had been waiting to see if Lyrith was actually going to be adopted, gaped.

_"Servants? The dragoness adopting him has servants! That's not fair! Why does he get servants? I should be the one to get servants!"_ Ashe raged inwardly, saying nothing as he watched Lyrith give directions to the moles, who listened courteously. The crowd was also muttering among itself, obviously as surprised as Ashe at the arrival of servants.

"…my stuff is on the floor, next to the door, inside my room, you can't miss it." Lyrith finished. The moles then turned to Inferna for their final instructions.

"When you're done, bring Lyr's belongings to my train. Take your time; we still have a long day ahead of us." The moles bowed then set off up the stairs, forming into a wedge to push through the gawking crowd.

"We are done here, let us be off Lyr." The Fire Guardian, and Lyrith, finally free from the orphanage, left through the door and out into the sun light street, Lyr glanced back only once to smirk at the devastated expressions of the other orphans. Lyr instinctively stretched his wings for flight, but realised Inferna moved to join a crowd, rather than take flight. The white shrugged, folded his wings and followed after his mentor. They walked in silence for a time, moving with the crowd, and heading steadily down towards the outskirts of Warfang.

"So, what are we doing first?" Lyrith asked. Inferna glanced down at the Albino.

"First, I have some questions for you." She spoke softly, and Lyrith felt a chill run down his spine. "What did she mean by criminal record?"

Lyrith flinched. "Oh, yeah… That." Lyr paused, and Inferna waited for Lyr to continue. "I wasn't the best dragon in my younger days. And I'm not very popular with authority figures…"

"I could see that." Inferna responded flippantly. Lyr's jaw tightened, but he managed to control his anger.

'I'm not proud of what I've done, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't be here now."

"Well, what did you do?" Inferna asked, her tone softening.

"I stole some things. Food, gold, whatever it took to survive." Lyr's jaw locked, and his face set in a stubborn expression. Inferna knew she would not get any more out of the white dragon.

"Well, we've got a couple of things to do Lyrith." Inferna gave him a dazzling smile, deciding it was time to change the subject. "The first thing to do is quit your job at the smelters. Now that you are my student, we can't have you working at a job, several hundred leagues away from the Temple now can we?"

Lyrith nodded his expression unchanging.

"Then we have the acceptance celebration."

Lyr gave Inferna a puzzled look. "Acceptance celebration?"

"Yes, normally a new student's family hosts a party to celebrate their child being accepted into the Temple. However, I couldn't help but notice that you have a distinct lack in the family department, so we'll do something different."

"Like what?"

"You will see soon enough." Inferna winked at Lyr. Then fell silent. The dark looming structure of the Smelters soon came into view. Inferna and Lyrith broke away from the crowd, and headed towards it.

"That is where you work, right?" Inferna nodded her head towards the pillars of smoke and the dark metal of the building.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Oh I have my sources…" Inferna chuckled, and Lyrith rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Inferna…" Lyr questioned after a pause. "Who was that dragonling, the ice dragoness I saved yesterday?"

"Oh, that was Ireeca, daughter of Duchess Arquin." Inferna replied blandly, though a small smile crept over her features. Lyrith, who had stopped momentarily to drink from a nearby water trough choked, and began to cough harshly. Inferna slapped Lyr in the back with her tail, right between the shoulder blades, and the Albino spat up a mouth full of water.

"Ireeca? As in the daughter of Arquin, who has been petitioning for better housing in the slums?"

"I believe I just said that yes." Lyr shook his head in amazement, and the two began walking again.

"How did you manage to get Ireeca to play hostage?" Lyr asked, shocked. Inferna laughed.

"Well, let's just say, Arquin owes me a few favours."

They arrived at the smelters and found all the workers already at their posts. The courtyard was empty, except for one well-dressed red dragon. The dragon wore chains of gold around his neck, and a small cape of velvet that draped over his flanks. The gold chains clinked as 'Mr. Boss' moved towards the pair, a deep frown creasing his muzzle.

"You are late Lyrith. I warned you what would happen if you were late again. An hours pay is now mine, thank you. Now get to…" Mr. Boss was brought up short by Inferna who coughed to catch his attention.

"I'm afraid it was **my** fault he was delayed." The red dragon's eyes widened as he examined the Guardian's face. His gaze flickered down to the gold seal she wore.

"M-My lady!" Mr. Boss stammered and buried his muzzle in the dirt, in a deep bow. "I am honoured that you would grace my humble factory with your presence. What is it that you desire?"

Lyrith couldn't help but snicker at the prostrated form of his boss.

_"This'll never get old, seeing everyone bow to my new teacher."_ Lyrith thought, silently laughing. Then a thought struck him. _"I wonder if someday I will be bowed to… That would be interesting."_

"I have recently taken Lyrith into my custody and we have come to break his contract with you." Inferna informed the red dragon, head held high. Mr. Boss frowned, but said nothing. "Now if you would please, direct us to your office." Inferna requested regally.

"Of course." The gold encrusted red dragon responded, getting up. "Come this way." Mr. Boss led Lyr and Inferna into the smelters. The workers atop the huge metal furnaces, stopped to watch their manager lead Lyrith, and the flame patterned dragoness through a maze of steel bars and roaring fires. Lyr cast a glance around as they passed through his regular work place and caught sight of a small mole, resting on a stack of steel bars.

"Aggy! Over here!" Lyrith called to the mole, who looked up, and then waved. He leapt down from his perch and raced over to Lyrith. His stubby legs churning to catch up.

"Ah! Lyr my boy! How are zee doing?" Aggernon panted as he caught up to the three dragons.

"Awesome! I'm finally going to school!" Lyr beamed.

"Ah! Zat is excellent! Congratulations!" Inferna looked back at the chattering pair, and smiled.

"Lyrith," Inferna called back over the two catching the Albino's attention. "Stay here and say goodbye to all of your friends. It may be a long time before you see them again." Lyr nodded sombrely, understanding. Then he and Aggernon separated from the group and returned to their conversation. Mr. Boss watched the two disappear amidst the steel maze, before looking back at Inferna.

"Where he is going, it is unlikely they will ever see each other again." The red dragon said, betraying no emotion.

"That is a good possibility." Inferna spoke back, with equal neutrality, not looking back. The steel rimed door of the manager's office came into view, and the two fire dragons headed towards it. The inside of the office was well light and well furnished. Plush cushions and thick carpets lay across the floor in perfect order. A huge hard wood desk, edged with gold sat in the middle of the room. Its polished surface putting the Mothers desk to shame. Mr. Boss offered Inferna a seat, which she took gracefully laying on the plush cushions like it was a throne.

The manager took a seat behind the desk and shuffled through the drawers, before coming out with an envelope. He placed the envelope on the desk in front of Inferna, who reached for it. Mr. Boss placed a paw on the envelope preventing her from picking it up.

"I will not contest you in this matter, Inferna." The red spoke, looking her straight in the eyes. "It is your right as Guardian to overrule any contract while recruiting a student. But I wish to know why you chose the Albino." He held Inferna's gaze firmly, paw unmoving. The Fire Guardian looked into the red dragon's eyes unblinking, her paw still halfway to the envelope. After a long moment she withdrew her paw and looked away thoughtfully.

"I suppose it's because he is different, unique. I have never met another dragon like him. I believe deep down that Lyrith had amazing potential; it just needs the right encouragement to shine through." Inferna looked back towards the red dragon, who stared back at her, his face unreadable.

"I still don't understand. To me, he is just a thug, a clever thug, but a thug none the less." He removed his paw from the envelope, which Inferna took and opened, spilling the pages of Lyrith's contract across the table.

"I didn't expect you to understand, few would be able to see it." Inferna shuffled though the pages, putting them back in order. Taking the melted wax the red offered her she stamped the pages with her Guardian seal, leaving her insignia in the wax. She offered him back the papers. He placed them back into the envelope and slid them back into his desk.

"Whatever you see in him is no longer my concern. Shall we go?" Mr. Boss asked, getting up from his seat.

"Just a moment." Inferna caught him as he was about to leave the room. "I have one more request, I would be grateful if that mole could accompany us for just today."

"I'm afraid that just isn't possible, I need every worker on the job today. I cannot let the **profits** drop for even one day…" The red lifted his head, nose held high in the air. But his eyes betrayed his greed. Inferna reached into the purse around her neck and produced a large pouch of coins, which she place on the desk. Moving quickly the manager snatched the pouch up, weighing it in his paws. He took a peek inside, then nodding satisfied, he placed the pouch into a drawer in his desk, and then he pulled out a thick tome.

"I will check my ledger. I believe I may have made an error in the day plan of the mole in question."

"Excellent." Inferna smiled slyly, as the red dragon jotted down a note in the ledger.

"Let us go." The two stood and walked out the doorway. Taking several turns through the maze of steel, they caught sight of Lyrith and Aggernon chatting, taking turns on the bellows that kept the fire roaring. Lyr caught sight of Inferna as they came into view, and let go of the bellows.

"Goodbye Aggy." Lyr sighed, trying to smile. But before Aggernon could respond, Mr. Boss spoke up, having to shout over the clang of metal and the roar of the fire.

"Aggernon, I believe I have made a mistake in the ledger, you have the day off. Go and spend it however you wish, just be on time tomorrow." Lyrith and Aggernon blinked in surprise. Mr. Boss never made a mistake in his ledger. Lyr cast a suspicious glance at Inferna, who examined a stack of steel bars with intense interest while humming a catchy tune.

"Now be off with you. I have important work to do and you are only in the way. Be gone! Shoo!" The red dragon waved his paws at them as if pushing them away, Inferna walked towards the exit, glancing back to make sure Lyr was following her. Lyr and Aggernon exchanged glances, and then shrugged, following after the Fire Guardian. Lyrith caught up to Inferna as she reached the exit.

"So, where are we going now?" Lyrith asked. Inferna smirked as Aggernon finally caught up, panting.

"Follow me." She launched herself into the air, not bothering this time to look back. Aggernon, who had decided to come along with Lyr, climbed wordlessly onto the white's back. Lyrith shifted at the uncomfortable sensation, then took a few short steps and took off, beating his wings hard to catch up.

They caught up the larger Guardian, after a few minutes, as they passed over the slums. Lyrith watched with interest as the buildings became neater and more attractive, the closer they got to the center of Warfang.

Inferna altered her course slightly, and headed towards one of the castle-mansions that dominated the center of Warfang. Lyrith drew beside Inferna.

"What is that place? Where are we going? Answer me this time!" Lyr shouted over the rushing wind, as Inferna picked up speed. Aggernon, who clung to Lyr tightly, his thick claws digging painfully into Lyrith's sides looked up and gasped.

"Ai! It is Duchess Arquin's mansion! It is so beautiful!" Inferna grinned at Lyrith's dumbfounded expression, and laughed.

"That's right! We have been formally invited to Ireeca's tenth hatchday party!"

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith

Inferna

Aggernon

Ireeca (Prisoner dragoness)

Arquin

Mr. Boss (Still can't believe I named him that!)

Ashe

Bould

Sickle

The Mother

Would you believe that this was originally going to be the half-way point in one chapter? Seriously! I originally intended to add the hatchday party bit in too! But that would have been ridiculous! Once it reached some five thousand words, I realised I would have to split it into two chapters. I decided that if I went on any longer, people would start to get bored of Lyrith, so the next chapter will be about Tirren. Hope you enjoyed it!

Edit: April 3 2012 According to a friend of mine, this is where my style of writing solidified, and looking back at these five chapters, I can see why. The first four were far too... awkward. Reading over this now, I can definitely see how much it is improved over the previous ones. Odd, considering that when I originally released this chapter, I felt rather disappointed in it, in both the amount of time it took to finish, and in how I had wrote it (though that opinion has changed a great deal now that I've reread it).


	6. Resolve

Chapter 6: Resolve

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Dragon Temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. However several of my characters are doing the hoola behind you! Now, quick look! You don't want to miss it! Darn… too late… well my characters are featured in this chapter anyways. Too bad you missed it… it was really funny._

The sun set, well past its zenith in the afternoon sky. Gaping blue holes split open the thick, cloudy sky, allowing the sun to shine through. The patchwork pattern of light and shadow spread across the Temple like a quilt, the ever moving light and darkness lazily swirling around on the verdant landscape.

Far below a black dragoness forced her way through a crowd of students, heading back to their rooms, from their classes. Cynder ploughed through any who got in her way, heedless of their cries of protest and shouts; she had somewhere she needed to be. Cynder broke through the crowd and exploded down the hall, at a dead run.

Not five minutes ago she had returned from her shopping trip with Spyro, and had been informed that her son had been found injured in the swamp. The messenger had gone on to tell her that Typhous was also found unconscious as well, but Cynder had already disappeared, leaving the messenger alone with Spyro.

Cynder turned sharply to the left, sliding across the stone floor before continuing her frantic sprint.

_"Why,"_ Cynder demanded of herself, catching sight of the infirmary. _"Is my son such an idiot?"_ Cynder burst through the infirmary door, ruby chest heaving, eyes wild. The physicians took one look at the distraught dragoness and pointed to a bed on Cynder's left. She stalked over to the bed; its long white curtains shrouded the bed from view.

Fear flashed through the black dragoness's mind as she reached for the curtains. She imagined Savron laying, bleeding out, long gaping wounds slashing over his small purple frame. She imagined him dying in her paws, unable to do anything to save her son, or lessen the pain. Shaking her head to clear away the fear, she slipped through the curtains.

Inside she found Hunter sitting with his back to the wall, his face grave. Cynder felt the flutter of fear creep over her again. Next to Hunter sat a small, scrawny ice dragon, Sleet. A few small scratches ran along his thin body, his wounds were far from serious, but tears welled up in his eyes. Finally her gaze came to rest on Savron. His purple scaled body covered with long cuts, he lay on his back, barely moving but breathing deeply. Cynder felt her fear lessen, relief flooding through her.

"He will be alright. Our biggest concern now is the spider venom." A smooth calm voice came from behind Cynder, who turned to look at the newcomer. A long majestic dragoness slid through the curtains, her blue scales glittered in the steady light from the nearby window. Behind her Spyro peered in, his amethyst eyes reflecting Cynder's own worry.

"Venom!" Spyro and Cynder shouted in unison causing the physicians in the area to jump with alarm. The blue dragoness looked between them, frowning in disapproval.

"Yes, Bulb Spider venom, not lethal in itself, even at such a high dosage. They are far more proficient at cutting their prey to ribbons than poisoning. No the venom will give our reckless dragon here a fever, and slow the healing process. If not given treatment, he might die, but even an amateur healer can make an antidote for Bulb Spider venom."

Cynder breathed a sigh of relief at the news. She trusted Aquina, the blue dragoness. Her skill with medicine and healing were the best in the Temple, if not the entire kingdom.

Aquina was a water dragoness, a rare breed of dragon from the eastern seas. The water dragons rarely left their underwater cities, preferring instead the solitude and the serene nature of the ocean, over the hectic land dweller's life. The water element was the only known magic to possess any healing properties, besides fairy magic. It enabled the body to recover rapidly from injuries, speeding up the healing process and turning months lounging in bed, to mere days.

Aquina loped over to the bed, stepping over Sleet, who sat by Savron's bed, a tearful expression of worry creasing his face. Aquina's body was longer than a normal dragon's, almost serpentine. Long frills stretched down her back like fins, her paws were clearly webbed and tipped with large talons. Blue-green coral crested her head like a crown, the water dragon's replacement for horns. Instead of wings, huge sail like fins stretched from Aquina's back, adapted as much for the sea as the sky.

Cynder watched Aquina begin to mix some herbs she produced from the bed side table, letting a trickle of water flow from her mouth into the concoction. When Cynder had first met Aquina, she could hardly keep from staring at the strange exotic dragoness, alien, yet beautiful.

Cynder glanced over at Spyro, and noticed him eying Aquina. The black dragoness slapped Spyro upside the head with her tail. The purple winced and grinned sheepishly, caught red clawed.

Leaving Aquina to her work, Cynder beckoned Hunter and Sleet to follow her. They came dutifully, Hunter leading while Sleet slunk behind him, glancing back over his shoulder at Savron. They slipped through the curtains; they walked a decent distance from the sick bed before Cynder turned on the two.

"What happened?" Cynder demanded, unable to control her anger, tears welling up in her eyes. Hunter opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Sleet.

"We were going frogweed hunting." The words spilled from the small dragon like an avalanche. "We were only going to be gone an hour, but we were ambushed by Bulb spiders. We… we…" Sleet couldn't finish, small sobs racked his thin frame and he covered his head with his paws. Hunter placed a comforting hand on Sleet's shoulder.

"That pretty much sums it up. They fought them off, and I came to the rescue later on, but it was Typhous who finished the battle. He's over there on that bed; he has a few scratches, but nothing serious. Sleet here managed to avoid most of the conflict."

Cynder sighed as Hunter finished his report.

_"Why is it,"_ Cynder mused darkly, as Hunter and Spyro, who had followed the three out, comforted Sleet. _"that nothing I say or do, puts a sane thought in Savron's head."_ Cynder strode up to Sleet, who had stopped crying and patted him on the head.

"It wasn't right of Savron to drag you or Typhous into this insane game of his. You're not a fighter… I'm sorry." Sleet gazed up at Cynder's sympathetic expression, his dirty face smudged by the tears. He grinned meekly.

"He would have gone with or without us. It was probably better if me and Typhous were there to help when things got rough."

Cynder returned his smile. "Thank you both, for being there to pull my son out of this mess. You too Hunter. What exactly happened to Typhous?"

"Typhous is exhausted from unleashing his fury in such a weakened state. As I said before, he didn't have to much in the way of injuries, but enough to count when using that much power all at once."

Aquina poked her head out from behind the curtains and addressed Cynder.

"Savron is awake; do you wish to see him?"

Without responding Cynder rushed past the water dragoness and into the enclosed space of the sick bed. Savron lay on his back, eyes half closed breathing steadily. His gaze drifted slowly to Cynder who stood next to him.

"Mom?" Savron murmured weakly, his eyes unfocused.

"You…You…" Cynder stood, unable to speak, her tears forcing their way past her angry expression, and she broke into a sob. The black dragoness collapsed onto the bed, bawling, her wings enclosed Savron in a tight hug as she wept into the sheets.

Spyro appeared beside her and lay down beside the bed, wrapping his tail in with hers and placing his head on the bedside. A trickle of tears fell from his amethyst eyes as the three lay together in the warm room, weeping silently.

* * *

The sun rose as a new day dawned. Birds sang a chorus to welcome the rising sun, white fluffy clouds dotted the blue sky and the stalks of the mushroom trees waved and danced in the strong wind. Several floors above the waving mushroom caps an emerald green dragoness slept, curled up on a bed of plush cushions, snoring lightly.

Tirren slept, unaware of the small yellow lightning dragoness sneaking up to her. The yellow dragoness was several years younger than Tirren, and was sunshine yellow in colour. She had two horns, which arched back from her head, then curled down in a slight curve. She wore ribbons tied around her horns and cascaded around her head like a rainbow. Similar ribbons were tied around her ankles and neck, creating a wash of brilliant colour that dazzled those who looked at her.

The dragoness sneaked closer, a feather clutched in one of her paws. She reached the green, lifted the feather, and with an expression of intense concentration, began tickling Tirren's nose furiously. Tirren sneezed, her eyes flew open and she leaped from her bed with a startled yelp. Tirren landed on her back and the yellow followed her, tickling her with the feather. The two laughed together as the yellow continued to tickle Tirren, not letting the green escape.

"Enough Zindy!" Tirren laughed, tears running down her face. "I can't take any more! I give, I surrender!" Zindy released Tirren, halting her barrage of feather tickling.

"GetoutofbedTirren! Youneedtogetreadyfor yourfighttoday; youdon'twantto…" Tirren silenced Zindy by clamping the yellow's muzzle closed with a paw. Zindy's tongue continued to waggle, trapped inside her mouth before it realised nothing was coming out and stopped.

"Say that again Zindy?" Tirren asked patiently releasing her grip on the yellow.

"I said," Zindy repeated, slowly so Tirren could keep up. "Get out of bed Tirren. You need to get ready for your fight today; you don't want to lose to the nasty Wintra, right?" Tirren sighed and got up. Zindy was right; she did have a fight today, a duel with Wintra. Tirren needed to prepare, and Wintra was not a dragoness to fight unprepared.

"Alright, I'm up, let's get going." Tirren sighed again, and they headed for the door. Tirren's room was spotless, except for the pillows scattered across the floor. The floor was well swept, and all of the trinkets and baubles Tirren kept in her room were stored away in an orderly fashion. Many books, from texts to novels were kept in neat rows on a shelf, most of which were tales of heroes long past. Though several were romance novels of the less graphic variety.

The two dragonesses padded out of Tirren's room and out into the corridor. Other dragonesses began filing out of their rooms and into the hallway. Tirren caught sight of Wintra as she stepped out of her room from across the hall. Their eyes met and Wintra sneered coldly. Tirren shivered, Wintra's eyes were as cold as her element. Wintra was known as the Ice Queen for her masterful control over ice. Sleet was the most powerful, Wintra was the most skilful.

"It's going to be a hard fight. But I can win this!" Tirren whispered to herself as she and Zindy began walking down the corridor, followed by a crowd of other dragonesses. She wished she was as confident as she claimed. Wintra was tough, one of the top in her class for controlling her magic, and the best with ice. Tirren was better with close ranged combat, and had a talent for combining her magic with her body.

_"I just have to get close to her, and then the fight is mine!"_ Tirren tried to convince herself. The crowd turned past a painting of a flock of sheep being herded into a room full of hungry dragons, and into another hall. This hall led down to a flight of stairs, which in turn led to the student kitchen; there the students were served their breakfast. Wintra reached the buffet table first and began piling her plate with only the choicest morsels. The line behind her piled up and the dragonesses grumbled complaints as Wintra made her way along the line, taking excruciatingly long at each section.

Tirren's stomach growled as she reached the buffet; she picked up slices of steak, lamb and turkey legs, stacking them up on her plate. She arranged the meats to her tastes before moving to an empty table, her plate held daintily between her front paws. From across the kitchen, the male dragons poured from their rooms, chatting boisterously. They pushed and shoved towards the buffet, where they shoveled food onto their plates.

Abruptly Tirren felt her hind legs sweep out from under her, and she plummeted to the floor, her breakfast scattering across the ground. Tirren looked up to see Wintra sitting on a cushion beside her, her tail flicking from side to side in amusement.

"Oops, my bad." Wintra smirked viciously, showing off pearly white fangs.

"Bitch." Tirren muttered under her breath, as she got up and collected her ruined breakfast. Zindy helped her gather the food and bring it to the waste bucket in the corner of the room.

"I can't believe grandpa Volteer and the other Guardians tolerate those jerks! What did they ever see in them?" Zindy spat disgustedly, slowly enough to be understood. Tirren repressed a sigh and moved towards the buffet again, glancing towards the table where Wintra sat. She was giggling along with Torch and his gang, casting Tirren the occasional glance.

"Who knows? I guess they don't really see the bad side of those idiots. They always act so nice around the teachers and tutors that their inherent **evil** doesn't register." Tirren caught sight of Igneous as he left the buffet, balancing two patters of food, one on each paw. He caught her gaze and motioned with his head for her to join him at his table. Tirren changed directions, heading towards Igneous who sat down at a large table, surrounded by thick cushions.

Zindy clutched her own plate of food tightly as she weaved awkwardly through the crowd behind Tirren, jogging to catch up. They reached the table with no incidents and found Sleet sitting with Igneous at the table, his plate piled high with food. The scrawny ice dragon was busy shovelling food into his mouth when Tirren and Zindy took a seat next to Igneous. Igneous passed Tirren one of his patters of food, which she took gratefully.

"Thanks."

Igneous grinned when she examined her food and found all of her favourite foods arranged neatly on the plate.

"How did you…" Tirren asked flushing slightly.

"You eat the same breakfast every day. Not a hard pattern to follow." Igneous replied before she could finish her question. Then he turned to Sleet, concern etched onto his muzzle. Sleet was taking a break from gorging himself; half of his breakfast was already gone.

"Slow down, you don't want to choke on your breakfast, right?"

Sleet nodded, panting. Another dragon sat down beside Zindy, his plate stacked with several slices of beef and pork. The dragon was smaller than Igneous, and his red scales were not quite as vibrant as the crimson red of Igneous's, but he was a very striking dragon. Five horns adorned his head; three ran forwards, two just above eye level, the third jutting from his forehead. The other two horns arched backwards and up, pointing towards the ceiling.

"Hey guys!" The red spoke through a mouth full of pork, spraying half chewed pieces of meat across the table.

"Swallow Burnam, please. We don't want to eat your food for you, okay." Sleet moaned, wiping bits of food from his face.

Burnam swallowed and grinned, unperturbed.

"Aw, but don't you like my choice of a meal? I thought you might appreciate some." Burnam chuckled. Burnam was always happy; nothing anyone could say would ruin his mood. Tirren wished she could be so cheerful.

"So how's Sav?" The ever cheerful dragon inquired.

"He's doing better, but he's going to be stuck in the infirmary for a few more days." Sleet informed the grinning red, who shook his head in sympathy.

"Oh well. Pity he's going to miss today's duel, right Tirren?"

Tirren nodded unhappily, she really didn't want to think about her upcoming fight with Wintra at the moment. Burnam didn't seem to notice her half-hearted response and continued to banter.

"I can't wait to see you kick Wintra's ass in front of the whole school. She's a tough bitch, but you're way up there in combat class. Heck, you're taking advanced courses, she's still in intermediate." Tirren felt her heart lift a little, she was a level higher than Wintra in combat courses, but Wintra was almost ready to advance up a level. The difference in combat training wouldn't be that far off.

"Hey, Rin let's go practice in the training ground during B and C periods. So you're ready for Wintra." Igneous suggested. Tirren looked up at the red puzzled.

"Don't we have classes then?"

"No! And that's the beauty of it!" Burnam declared, cutting off Igneous's response. "Because of Savron's injuries, Spyro and Cynder have cancelled their classes today. B and C are off!" Tirren smiled, a warm feeling of joy welling up in her.

"I would love to! I am up for some practice today." Tirren dug into her meal with renewed enthusiasm. They ate in silence, finishing their meals without any more conversation. Around them, the student body buzzed with talk, rumours and laughter. They often caught snippets of conversation, most relating to Savron's latest adventure gone wrong or the upcoming duel.

A loud bell tolled, signaling the beginning of classes. Tirren got to her feet and began walking towards the exit, leaving her empty plate behind for the maids. Igneous, and Sleet followed close behind. They joined the crowd of students all heading towards their classes. Tirren, Igneous and Sleet all had the same first class, Zindy, and Burnam took a different route to their first class.

The halls were packed with bustling students, hurrying servants and striding guards all heading towards their morning duties. The halls twisted and turned, often forking off into new hallways, a labyrinth of paths. But in the year or so Tirren had lived here, she knew her way around, and they soon found their class room.

The room was enormous, easily capable of fitting one hundred fully grown dragons. At the center of the room, lay a stage, where the instructor would direct the class's activities. Around it, platforms rose up like a huge staircase, on each platform, rows of desks sat; there the students would work. The desks overlooked the stage, and a small staircase led down from the doorway and down into the center of the room.

Tirren quickly found her desk, and settled down on the pillow. She unlatched her desk and opened its top to reveal her supplies. A text book, sheets of paper, quills and ink were all lined in neat rows in her desk. Tirren took out her text book and several sheets of paper and placed them on her desk. As she moved to take out her quills and ink, she caught sight of Igneous waving at her from his seat across the room, Sleet sat beside him. Tirren waved back absently as she placed the bottle of ink and her quill beside her papers.

The class room gradually filled up with students, they chatted and talked as they waited for their class to begin. When the last student took her seat in front of Tirren, a huge grey dragon paced into the room. He passed Tirren as he strutted purposefully towards the stage. He was rather large and blocky for a wind dragon, and more than a little fat. Three horns stuck out behind him like spikes, the stump of a fourth that had been broken off gave him a fearsome appearance. His right eye, or lack of eye, only served to intensify his frightening look. A long jagged scar that slashed over the right side of his face indicated where he had been struck when he had lost his eye.

The dragon took the stage, and glanced around the room with his baleful eye. The room had fallen silent when he had entered, and now none dared utter more than a breath. Professor Cadence was feared and hated by most of the students in the Temple; he was strict and humourless, and demanded silence during each lesson. Talking out of line led to extra work, and laziness was rewarded with detention. His infamy among the students, was widespread, and even the other teachers would flinch at his coming.

Cadence glared around the room, daring anyone to talk out of line. When none rose to his challenge he coughed and sat on his haunches.

"Sub-Elements, chapter nine, page 216." Cadence barked. The class opened their books in unison and began ruffled through the pages to the designated page. Tirren gave the page a quick glance, reading the first page while the last of the students found it. Tirren beamed when she finished. Cadence taught magical histories, a surprisingly interesting class that taught everything from the discovery of magic, to magical races of myth and legend, to lost civilizations. The subject of Sub-Elements was one of the few the young earth dragoness had been most excited to learn.

"As you are all aware," Cadence's voice rang in the silence. "There are ten basic elements found in the dragon race. These elements can be found in every aspect of our society, though some are rarer than others. Fire, Ice, Earth, and Lightning are among the most prominent among our race. Can anyone name the other six?" For a moment none spoke, afraid his question was some sort of trick. When Cadence did not continue his instruction, a young fire dragoness raised her paw nervously, and Cadence nodded to her.

"Well sir, there is wind. Like you sir." She whispered, her words echoed around the room, clearly heard in the silence. Cadence nodded in confirmation and looked around.

"Any others?"

No longer worried that their teacher was trying to trick them, several students raised their paws, and Cadence pointed to each one.

"Fear."

"Shadow."

"Water."

"Poison."

Each answered and then fell silent. Cadence waited but no one else raised their paw. He shook his head.

"That would make nine; does no one know the tenth element?" When none responded, he shook his head once more. "I do not blame you for not knowing, as you would be hard pressed to find a dragon in our society that possessed this power. It is known as Light, or the lost element. Can anyone tell me why?"

Tirren raise her paw.

"Is it because they have all died out?" She asked when the chubby wind dragon pointed to her.

"Close, they were driven to near extinction several hundred years ago and have never recovered. The few remaining light dragons are scattered across the world, making them all but impossible to track down," Cadence cleared his throat. "However the fall of the Light dragon empire is a topic we will discuss later, today you will learn of Sub-Elements. Sub-Elements are elemental magic mutations that are a by-product of a union between two dragons whose elements fuse. It is rare for elements to fuse, and there is never a guarantee a Sub-Element will result from a union, even if it has occurred before. Sub-Element dragons make up roughly five percent of our population. Purples are a Sub-Element of the rarest variety, while Albinos are the most common, though they can hardly be called an element of any kind." Cadence stopped to catch his breath and study the reactions of those around him. Several of his students had chuckled when he had made his unintentional joke about Albinos.

"Silence!" Cadence shouted and the few students immediately stopped laughing. "I'm sure all of you have met Darius?" Cadence continued as if nothing had happened. Every one nodded in affirmation. Of course everyone had met Darius at some point; he was the head librarian in the Temple. Darius and Cadence were polar opposites; Darius's upbeat and colourful attitude was in total contrast with Cadence's strict unfriendly attitude. Darius was also stick thin, and light brown in colour.

"Darius is a Sub-Element dragon; can any of you tell me what his element is?"

Tirren raised her paw confidently and Cadence pointed to her with his tail.

"I believe he is a sand dragon sir." Tirren spoke evenly, her voice ringing in the silence.

"Very good, Darius is a Sand dragon, his father was a wind dragon, and his mother was an earth dragoness. Such a parentage occasionally results in a sub breed of sand dragons. Your assignment today is to read the first six pages of chapter nine, and answer the questions on page seven." Cadence stepped off of the stage and began wandering the class room, looking for lazy students. The students silently began reading from their texts.

"This is going to be an interesting day." Tirren mused, as she settled down and began reading the intro to the new unit.

"A very interesting day indeed."

* * *

Tirren heard the roar of the crowd clearly through the wooden door that led out into the arena. All of the students had gathered to witness the event. A duel was not a common occurrence and everyone wanted to see the fight. Tirren glanced nervously at the door and swallowed hard. She wore an outfit comprised of small chain links that covered her slim form. The outfit was designed to prevent any potentially fatal injuries during the fight, and somewhat absorbed elemental magic, allowing the combatants to fight to the best of their abilities without worry.

However, the suit of armour did little to ease the nervous feeling in Tirren's gut, as she prepared for the battle to come. The duel itself was a means of fairly resolving any conflicts between students. No student had to participate in a duel, and could withdraw at any time. Thereby conceding defeat and avoiding the confrontation entirely. Tirren however would not give Wintra such an easy win. And therein lay the crux of the problem. Tirren was all too aware of the difference in power she and Wintra possessed. Wintra was more powerful than Tirren, and far better at controlling her power. The fear of confronting Wintra clashed with the young earth dragoness's own pride, paralyzing her.

A duel was often an excuse for other students to prove who was the better fighter. Taking advantage of the protective armour, the students would bring all of their powers to bear against each other, without the fear of risking lives. Most duels were actually a pair of students competing rather than resolving issues between them. And it was in one of these fights Wintra had proven herself to be the fearsome fighter she was.

Tirren shivered as she remembered the last fight Wintra had participated in. A new student, a young fire dragon had challenged Wintra to a duel, having no idea what he was getting into. Wintra had destroyed the young red, defeating him so completely, so utterly that none had dared challenge her again.

_"Until now."_ Tirren thought glumly as she pulled her protective helmet over her head. Tirren jumped as she heard the door open, and whipped around to face the newcomer.

Zindy stood in the doorway, glancing around the room. The room was mostly empty, except for the many suits of armour that hung on the walls. They were shaped for every size and sex, and all glittered in the torch light.

"Are you alright?" Zindy asked, speaking slow to be understood.

"I suppose." Tirren murmured as she buckled on her neck guard. Zindy sauntered over and helped her friend strap on the last of the armour. Neither spoke, fully understanding the enormity of the event ahead. Zindy broke the silence when the last piece of armour was in place.

"Igneous believes in you. We all do. You can beat her Tirren, just have faith." Her words were exactly what Tirren needed to hear. A grin suddenly surfaced, her confidence rushing back to her in a wave.

_"Igneous **believes** in me! If he believes I can win then I know I can!"_

Igneous and Tirren had practiced earlier, getting Tirren ready for a confrontation against Wintra who was a ranged attack specialist. Igneous had mimicked the Queen of Ice's technique as best he could to help prepare. Igneous was the current reigning champion of the arena, having held the title for more than three months. If Igneous was certain she would win, she could. Tirren stood up suddenly and beamed at the lightning dragoness.

"You're right, I can win this! Thanks for the support and tell Igneous, I will take down this frigid witch for him!"

"We'llberootingforyou!" Zindy called to Tirren as she headed for the arena door. Tirren waved her tail tip in response, and then disappeared through the door. Tirren strode out into the arena, her head held high. The arena was a monolithic dome, a forest of towering spires and columns rose from the ground and towards the ceiling. Huge balconies overlooked the battle ground below, where nearly one hundred onlookers watched her enter. Servants could be seen bringing drinks and food to the crowd; it was lunch and everyone was hungry. Tirren had already eaten, and was grateful to Igneous who forced her to eat the lunch he had served.

Tirren felt her heart racing as she stepped up to the center of the arena, where Terrador stood waiting. The Earth Guardian gazed at Tirren solemnly.

"Are you ready Tirren?" Tirren nodded, she would never be more ready. Terrador motioned for a canine servant to fetch Wintra, and Tirren took the time to survey her surroundings. Hidden in the forest of stone, a pool could be seen, shimmering in the uncertain light. Tirren wondered why the arena would need a pool, and then let her gaze wander on. The floor was mostly sand, but to her right, Tirren could see a patch of black rock. The earth dragoness realised a number of strange objects were scattered across the battlefield.

A discarded bucket lay not far from the pool; a length of rope was coiled around a statue to her left and an Ape war helmet was nestled between two large boulders, wedged tightly between the rocks.

"How did that get here?" Tirren murmured to herself, expecting no response, and receiving none. Tirren's attention was once more drawn to Terrador. He was gazing at the other side of the battlefield, where Wintra strutted in, armoured in a similar style to Tirren. Her eyes burned with malicious glee as she stopped in front of Tirren.

"The rules for this match are as follows." Terrador's booming voice cut across the chattering crowd, which fell silent, seeing the match was about to begin. "All elemental attacks are permitted, with the sole exception of fury attacks, which are forbidden this match. Neither of you may remove your armour at any time during the match. The match will end when one combatant can no longer fight, surrenders, or is subjected to death lock."

Tirren's eyes were locked on Wintra's, a low snarl emanating from her throat. The rules Terrador had set were fairly standard rules in a duel. A match ending in surrender or one side being unable to fight were simple concepts to follow and required no finesse. A death lock however was a different story entirely. A death lock was achieved when one combatant pinned the other to the ground and lands a 'fatal blow'. This is when a dragon holds a claw, tail blade, or jaws on a vital point. The lock and fatal blow must be held for five seconds without the 'victim' escaping. If the requirements are achieved, the match ends with the one who locked the other the victor.

The death lock requires incredible skill, strength, and flexibility to hold, and was the most popular method of ending a match. Terrador drew in a deep breath then bellowed.

"Let the duel begin!" Terrador took off the moment the words left his muzzle, leaving the dragonesses alone in the center of the arena. Tirren and Wintra roared their battle cries and began their attack. Tirren charged Wintra, who released a torrent of liquid ice at the earth dragoness. Tirren leapt to the side, avoiding the ice blast, and charged Wintra's flank. The Queen of Ice whipped around and froze the ground of the arena, creating a thin layer of slick ice on the sand.

Rather than slip, or halt her charge like Wintra had wanted, Tirren leaped into the air. Her jump, powered by her earth magic, sent Tirren clear over the ice, and onto the ice dragoness. The crowd roared its approval as the two slid across the lake of ice Wintra had made. Claws flashing and fangs snapping, the two careened over the ice and slammed into one of the pillars. The impact separated the two combatants.

Desperately they scrambled to their feet, slipping on the slick ice. Wintra scooted away from Tirren, trying to get as much distance between them as possible. She then sent a hail of ice crystals at the recovering Tirren, the attack hit her head on, sharp shards of ice shattering off of Tirren's armour. The green dragoness ground her teeth in pain as the barrage of ice pounded against her body.

_"If this keeps up, I will be frozen in place."_ Tirren realised. She threw herself to the side, allowing the ice bed Wintra had created to carry her across the battlefield. Her reckless lunge sent Tirren sliding across the ice, away from the relentless hail of ice crystals and towards safety. Tirren skidded to a halt by a small statue, and scrambled to her feet, the world spinning around her. The crowd cheered, excited by the event, though Tirren could hear some booing and hisses of disapproval. The dizzy earth dragoness couldn't tell who their disapproval was directed at, and she didn't care, all that mattered was winning.

Tirren felt her anger flare as she slipped once more on the ice. Raising a paw, which now crackled with green energy, Tirren struck the ice, releasing the pent-up magic into the ground. The ice shattered into millions of tiny pieces, which then floated in the air like a fine mist. The crowd roared their approval at the earth dragoness's display of power, and the sundering of Wintra's ice bed.

With her paws back under her, Tirren charged Wintra, who took a deep breath, gathering her magic energy into a powerful attack. Tirren rolled into a ball, gathering her elemental magic around her, forming a ball of stone. The earth dragoness-made-boulder, rushed forward like an avalanche, ready to crush anything in its wake. Wintra's eyes widened in shock, as the boulder neared. Focusing on the ground in front of her, the ice dragoness released a torrent of icy liquid forming a makeshift ramp.

Tirren was moving too fast and could not turn in time to avoid running over the ramp, and was sent flying through the air. She crashed into one of the stone pillars, which cracked, and wobbled precariously, but remained standing. The boulder was lodged in the pillar for a moment before it teetered and fell. An idea came to Tirren as she fell with the boulder. The green dragoness gathered all the energy she could muster, and charged the boulder with it.

The boulder glowed a malevolent green, and it descended to the earth like a comet. Wintra had no time to react as the glowing orb of stone hit the ground, and unleashed the power within. The earth erupted upwards in a spray of dirt and debris, showering the crowd with grit, much to their displeasure. Wintra was sent hurtling through the air, only to land in the pond with a towering splash.

Tirren got to her feet unsteadily, feeling woozy from expending so much energy at once, and found herself in the middle of a small crater. She looked around for her adversary and saw Wintra pull herself from the pond, soaked to the bone.

"That caught the bitch by surprise." Tirren smirked smugly. The two approached each other cautiously, the crowd by now was screaming in a frenzy, fighting each other over who would win. Tirren struck first, emboldened by her success. She spat out a ball of green energy, attached to a cord of similar magic. Clamping the cord between her jaws, Tirren swung the flail of earth magic at Wintra. Wintra leapt back, narrowly avoiding the blow, which sent up a spray of dirt.

In retaliation Wintra sent another hail of ice crystals, though this time much weaker. Releasing the chain of energy, Tirren tackled Wintra, the two rolled through the dirt and mud, grappling. The green earth dragoness bit down on Wintra's neck plate and tried to maneuver on top of the ice dragoness. From the crowd Tirren heard a few dragons whistling rudely and yelling sexual suggestions.

"Perverts." Tirren grunted through her hold on Wintra's neck, as they rolled around in the dirt, locked in battle. Wintra managed to face Tirren, and sent a blast of ice into the green's face. Tirren reared up from Wintra, releasing the ice dragoness and yowling in pain. Wintra wriggled free from under Tirren and retreated. Both dragonesses panted furiously, sore, tired and dirty from their struggle. They eyed each other warily, waiting for the first sign of attack.

Tirren took the offensive once more. Before Wintra could react, Tirren lunged at the Queen of Ice, her body infused with the last of her magical strength, empowering her leap. Wintra could only take a step back, fear washing over her features as she realised she couldn't fight off Tirren any longer…then she slipped.

The ground crumbled out from underneath the ice dragoness, and she tumbled to the ground, Tirren soared over her fallen opponent, missing her by a hairsbreadth. Tirren slammed into a stone pillar, the impact jarring her, and collapsed in a heap. The crowd groaned a collective sigh. Wintra got to her feet quickly, and seeing her opponent lying unmoving, smirked victoriously. The Queen of Ice sprayed Tirren with a blast of liquid ice, freezing her in place.

Tirren found herself unable to move, sealed in a prison of ice. The trapped earth dragoness watched though blurred eyes, as Wintra walked calmly over to her and placed a claw on the green's armoured throat. She held it there for five seconds, and then a thunderous gong reverberated through the arena. The crowd erupted into motion, a large portion of the crowd booed and hissed with disappointment, but the majority cheered and applauded. Wintra grinned triumphantly, her wicked eyes full of malice.

"It looks like the Ancestors favour me over you, slut." Wintra gloated as she strode away, the victor of the day. Tirren felt tears come to her eyes as the servants arrived to free her from the icy cage Wintra had left behind, bearing ice picks and chisels. Tirren lay still as they got to work, prying the ice away from her, her head hanging low, eyes squeezed shut, refusing to look in her friend's direction.

"I'm sorry Igneous... I'm so, so sorry..."

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Tirren

Igneous

Savron

Sleet

Burnam

Wintra

Torch

Zindy

Aquina

Typhous

One of my favourite chapters to date. It was so much fun writing this chapter that I finished it in record time! I can't help but feel sorry for Tirren, she was so full of hope, and then I crushed that hope *evil laugh*. It was fun playing out the fight scene though; I used as many powers as I could remember from the Spyro games without going overboard, and added a couple of my own. If you recognized the powers, have an imaginary cookie, they're chocolate chip!

Edit: April 7 2012 Added a bit more to the ending, since I felt it was lacking a bit, but that's probably the only truly major change. I did extend a couple sentences near the beginning though, since I felt those could have benefited from some more description. I really still do enjoy this chapter, and I'm proud of how well the let down of Tirren failing the battle comes off. Even I felt enthusiasm for Tirren's victory coming up, despite knowing she'd lose, and honestly felt disappointed when she did. Looking back at this chapter now though, I realise that I've been severely neglecting Tirren as a character, instead solely focusing on her reactions to Savron and Igenous as a means of conveying her characters. Aside from this chapter, I don't think she ever gets a scene all to herself (without either Savron, or Igneous being close by). I'll have to give her more time to herself in the sequel.


	7. Hatchday

Chapter 7. Hatchday

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, Do **not** Own Spyro, Cynder, Warfang or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are... No! Get…get away! Oh god! No, no, no, no! Get off! Oh god! My beautiful face! Where is my baseball bat! There it is! Take this! And that! Hah! Don't like that, do you, you stupid fur ball! Yah you better run! *Panting* Sorry about that…. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter. I got to get better locks…_

The towering spires of Arquin's mansion reached up like claws towards the sky, dwarfing the houses below. The mansion was built of grey-blue stone, arches and towering columns gave the enormous structure a sense of grace and dignity. Huge murals of coloured tiles decorated the upper portion of the walls. They depicted wondrous scenes and beautiful landscapes from far off realms.

_"This mansion would be better described as a palace."_ Lyrith speculated, awestruck at the magnificent building. Lyrith with Aggernon clinging to his back, and Inferna, who was taking the lead, began their decent to the mansion gates. Two armoured dragon guards jogged up to them as they landed.

"Halt! What is your business at the Duchess Arquin's mansion?" One of the guards demanded. Lyrith looked up to Inferna as she stepped forward.

"We have been invited to Ireeca's party. Here are our invitations." Inferna rummaged around in her neck purse before producing two cards. She handed the cards to the guard who took them and examined them suspiciously.

"There are only two cards here, and three of you, we can't…"

"On the back it says we are each permitted to bring a guest. Aggernon, the mole, is one such guest." Inferna gestured to Aggernon, who had jumped off of Lyrith's back the moment they touched down. The guard examined the cards again, before nodding.

"Alright then, you may enter."

As the three moved to enter, the second guard caught Lyr's eye.

"Watch it, whitey, no trouble making, or we will gladly skin your white hide." The armoured dragon growled threateningly. Lyrith ignored the guard, and continued walking as nothing had happened.

_"Prick."_ Lyrith thought as they passed through the front gate and into the garden beyond. Inferna slowed her pace, allowing the smaller Lyrith and Aggernon to catch up. Aggernon panted as he gratefully slowed his gait from a run to a jog.

"If I am one of zee guests, zen who iz zee uhzer? Each of you iz allowed a guest, no?"

"Very observant of you Aggernon!" Inferna giggled as they walked through the garden. The trees were trimmed into all manner of shapes, from animals to odd patterns. Walls of flowers were arranged into colourful images, many of which were dragons.

"As it happens, I do have a guest… and there he is right now!"

A large earth dragon of a dark green colouring appeared from behind a cluster of trees. As he turned down the pathway he saw Inferna waving at him, and rushed over to meet her. His head was topped with three horns, and his body was bulky, bound in enormous slabs of muscle. He embraced Inferna when he reached her, shrouding her with his wings. She hugged him back, his head lowered to kiss her, but she pushed him away.

"Not in front of my student, Deran!" Inferna giggled girlishly. Deran turned to look at Lyrith and his eye ridges went up as he examined the white, his blue eyes full of curiosity.

"So this is the student you were searching more than half a year for? I didn't expect him to be an Albino."

Lyrith ignored the comment. Deran glanced back at Inferna.

"We all thought you were searching for another purple, you took so long. I missed you Inferna, I'm glad you'll finally be coming back home." Deran chortled, pulling Inferna closer to him.

"I missed you too, you big lug." Inferna purred, before pushing away from him. "Deran, this is Lyrith. Lyrith, this is Deran, the Temple's forge master, and my date."

Deran gave Inferna an injured look. "Date? Don't you mean lover?"

Inferna blushed furiously. "We don't have to tell them **everything** about our relationship, Deran."

Deran gave Inferna an exasperated look. "Well, your **date** is still a little insulted that you take our relationship so lightly, considering how long we have been together... Couldn't you at least acknowledge our relationship and call me your boyfriend or something?"

"Alright… **Boyfriend**." Inferna smiled and nuzzled the forge master.

Lyrith coughed to catch their attention, a little embarrassed to have witnessed his new teacher having an intimate moment with Deran.

"Um, don't we have a party to attend?" Lyrith asked shyly. Both the Fire Guardian and the forge master blushed furiously, having forgotten the event entirely.

"Oh… Right."

The group moved on, Inferna leading and Aggernon taking up the rear. Deran sidled up to Lyr and looked down at him.

"So, you must be something special if Inferna chose you, and after only one test."

Lyrith gave Deran a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she has been looking for a new student for half a year now, turning down dozens of potential candidates. Some of those students had been tested several times before being turned down. And yet here you are, after only one test. She must see something great in you."

"Really…" Lyrith mused aloud, giving Inferna a pondering look. "She never told me that…"

"Probably didn't want to swell your ego so much that your head would explode. Well, let me be the first to welcome you to our little club." Deran stopped and reached out a paw. Lyrith grasped the offered paw, grinning widely.

_"Maybe they won't all be so snobby after all."_ Lyr thought, wanting to hope he would be so easily accepted by his other peers.

The mansion door was guarded by two more armoured dragons; these guards did not challenge the newcomers and opened the doors allowing them entry. Lyrith gawked at the lavish wealth inside, massive statues of carved marble towered around him. Rugs of the finest materials carpeted the floor, and beautiful tapestries and paintings dotted the walls. All around them servants scurried to and fro, some carrying empty dishes or platters of appetizers.

Deran chuckled at the Aggernon's and Lyrith's expressions of stunned awe. "Wait until you see the Temple, then you will have something to gawk at."

Inferna glanced back at Lyrith and grimaced slightly. "Lyr, we are guests here now, so you will want to look your best."

Lyrith looked down at himself and flushed, his white scales were dusty, and spots of fake blood from his trial still clung to him. He nodded and Inferna beckoned a servant over,

"Please take these two to the baths." She gestured to Lyrith and Aggernon, who was almost as filthy as Lyrith. The wind dragon eyed Lyrith with abhorrence, before he led the two to the bath house.

The bath house was located not far away, and was just as luxurious as the rest of the mansion. Steam clouded the air, rising from the basins of hot water dug into the ground. Racks of bottles and towels hung on the walls. The servant left the two alone in the bath house, sniffing distastefully as he went.

Lyrith sauntered over to the racks of bottles and picked one up. He opened the bottle and sniffed.

"Hey, Aggernon. What is this?" Lyrith asked. Its contents smelled like flowers, possibly lilies.

"Ah, I believe eet iz called soap, Lyr" Aggernon said, taking the bottle from Lyrith and sniffing it. ""Eet iz supposed to make zee cleaner, but I have never tried eet myself."

Lyr took the bottle back from Aggernon and eyed it with interest. "Rich folk and their eccentric ideas, doesn't water clean you up just fine...? So how do we use it?"

"Just rub eet all over zeeself while bathing."

Lyrith shrugged before slipping into the water. The white dragon sighed as he felt the hot water ease his muscles. He placed the bottle beside him and smeared his paws with the flowery substance. Aggernon stripped and slipped into the pool beside him, and took a bottle as well. Lyrith began scrubbing his body with the soap, the grime quickly washed away, polishing Lyrith's scales to a gleaming white.

"Hey! It actually works!" Lyrith laughed as he scrubbed all over, washing all over his body. When he was done, Lyrith sat down on his haunches in the hot water. Lyr sighed as he felt the hot water soak into him. Behind him, Lyrith heard Aggernon sigh as well. The two floated in the pool for a time, enjoying the pleasurable sensation the hot water gave them. The sound of a door opening snapped them out of their revelry.

"I see you two are enjoying yourselves."

Lyrith looked up to see Inferna walk in. Lyrith had been floating on his back, his white body shining in the torch light; Lyrith flushed and flipped himself over quickly, sloshing water over the edge of the pool. He was more than a little embarrassed that the Fire Guardian had gotten such a full view of him. Lyr pulled himself from the pool and stood in front of his mentor.

"It's time for you to get out, the party will be beginning soon and we have to… Agggghhh!" Inferna shrieked as Lyrith shook himself dry directly in front of her, spraying her with water.

"There were towels right over there!" Inferna complained, wiping the rapidly cooling water off her muzzle.

"Oops." Lyrith chuckled maliciously, his petty revenge complete. Aggernon also pulled himself from the baths and quickly got a towel, with his fur plastered to his body the mole looked even smaller than normal. Aggernon dried himself off, and then put his still slightly dirty vest back on.

"Hmm, well now that you're done, let us go, this steam is soaking my cape." Inferna twirled and strutted out of the room. The golden cape now draped over one of her flanks, flapping. Lyrith and Aggernon followed the Fire Guardian out the door, and found Deran waiting for them. He now wore a sash of turquoise blue that complimented his scales nicely.

"Inferna! You should know better than to barge into a male bath house, especially when your **student** is in there!" Deran exclaimed as they exited through the door.

"**You** never seemed to mind, **boyfriend**." Inferna smirked slyly, causing Deran to blush.

"Uh, well, um let's go then. This way, follow me."

The halls of Arquin's mansion-palace became increasingly lavish as they wandered through the corridors, following the forge master's lead. After a minute of exploring a buzz of chatter echoed down the hall and they soon turned into a gigantic chamber. A crowd of dragons with a scattering of other races bustled around. All wore finely tailored outfits and held themselves with grace and dignity. Servants dressed with near equal finery weaved through the crowd, refilling drinks and serving small treats.

When Lyrith entered, the dragons of the crowd fell silent, catching sight of the Albino. The guests of non-dragonic origins faltered, not understanding why their dragon companions had stopped their conversations. The crowd stared at Lyr, who swallowed hard.

"Behave yourself." Inferna whispered as they marched in. Lyrith nodded in understanding. Straightening his back, Lyrith strutted to the crowd proudly, as if his scales were purple, and not white. He was a third of the way across the room when a small blue blur exploded from the crowd and hurtled towards him. Lyrith yelped as Ireeca bowled into him, nearly taking the Albino off of his paws, the young dragoness embraced him tightly.

"My hero! I'm so happy you could come! This is him! The dragon who saved me from all those Apes!" Ireeca cried happily.

"It's good… To see you too…" Lyrith wheezed, feeling his ribs creak under her embrace. An Adult dragoness broke off from the crowd, who watched the scene with curiosity. The dragoness moved with a grace and dignity totally apart from the other guests, she was serene and composed.

"So you are Inferna's new student? My daughter speaks highly of you. You must be quite talented…." The dragoness paused, waiting for Lyrith to give her his name. He tried to answer but couldn't breathe. Inferna answered for him, while Lyr struggled to disengage himself from Ireeca's hug.

"His name is Lyrith. Lyrith this is Duchess Arquin."

"My pleasure." Lyrith gasped as he pulled away from Ireeca, panting for breath. Ireeca pouted.

"Mine as well. Inferna you have an… Interesting taste in students." Arquin remarked, bemused.

Inferna giggled. "I am sure that is what your guests are thinking right now."

Behind Arquin the crowd had begun muttering to themselves, having overheard the conversation.

"A Guardian chose an Albino! Absurd! This must be a joke of some kind."

"My child would have been a much better choice than that runt of a lizard."

"This is an outrage! My daughter was tried by Inferna and didn't pass. Now an Albino has succeeded where my daughter had failed! The audacity of that Inferna!"

"I heard he was accepted after only one test."

"No way! My son was had participated in **four** tests and still failed."

"Those tests are ridiculous; Inferna chained my son's leg to a weight and had him fight off nine Ape dummies… Nine! In what way does this show my son's genius or ingenuity? She must have gone easy on him because he is white."

The angry glares the crowd cast at him made Lyr nervous. He didn't need to hear what they were saying to know that they were not happy he had succeeded where so many 'real' dragons had failed. Inferna sensed Lyrith's nervousness and looked down at Ireeca, who was standing uncomfortably close to Lyr.

"Ireeca, maybe you would like to show Lyr around, and introduce him to some of your friends?" Ireeca's expression light up, and grabbing Lyr by the paw, she dragged Lyrith away from the party.

"Come on Lyr! I have so much I want to show you! We have all sorts of cool things! Like our massive pantry, a ton of toys to play with! Ooh! We have pretty flowers and paints and neat sculptures. We have…." Ireeca continued to list off all the things she could show Lyr. Lyr gave Inferna a piteous look as he was forcibly pulled out of the room. Inferna waved at the Albino as he was dragged from sight.

With the object of their ire gone, the crowd returned to their conversations. Aggernon moved to follow Lyrith, but Inferna intercepted him.

"Would you please stay with us Aggernon? I would like to talk with you."

The mole shrugged, and then nodded. "Az zee wishes, Madame Inferna."

Inferna grinned at the moles formal reply. Arquin glanced between the two and coughed.

"Well, I best be getting back to my guests. Please enjoy yourselves." The Duchess turned away from the Fire Guardian and padded back to the crowd.

Inferna waited for Arquin to disappear before she spoke again. "Let us go somewhere quieter."

Aggernon and Deran followed Inferna as she padded over to an empty corner of the room. She lay down on one of the thick mattresses that served as couches for the four legged dragons and made herself comfortable. Deran lay down beside her, and Aggernon climbed up onto a nearby chair.

"What iz eet zee wants to talk about?" Aggernon questioned, shifting in the chair to make himself more comfortable.

"I would like to know more about our friend, Lyrith."

* * *

Lyrith sneezed, inhaling even more of the dust he had blown off the book. The book was a large leather bound tome, of black colouring. Lyrith stood with Ireeca in the center of a gargantuan library. Countless books were stacked on shelves and tables everywhere Lyrith looked. The Albino could not help but gape at the wealth of knowledge around him. Beside him Ireeca pouted, Lyrith had stopped her here during his tour and had not wanted to move on.

"Can we please go? This place is so stuffy and boring, and I have so much more to show you."

Lyr looked at the little dragoness shocked. "Stuffy maybe, but never boring. I have **never** seen so many books in my life! Who knows what kind of tales, or hidden knowledge can be found in these texts?"

"Humph, most of these books are boring, uninteresting or drab. I only like the books on that shelf over there." Ireeca pointed to a large shelf of colourful books, a bored frown on her muzzle.

Lyrith gawked at the towering shelf of books. "You have read all of those books?"

"Most of them." She replied nonchalantly, examining her claws. "I tried reading some off the other shelves, but I could never get into them.

Ireeca glanced up and noticed his dumbfounded expression. "Why? How many books have you read?"

"About six."

Ireeca gave Lyr a puzzled look. "Why only six?"

"I couldn't afford to buy more."

"You couldn't afford? Why not? All of my other friends have many books."

Lyrith didn't answer, not comfortable with where this conversation was going. Before Ireeca could prod for more information, four dragons stalked through the library door. They all wore various form of finery, from scarves, to mantels, to frilly cuffs. Three of them were young, about Ireeca's age; they were led however, by a slightly older lightning dragon, closer to Lyrith's age.

"Ireeca, there you are! You left so suddenly we didn't know where you went!" A young red dragoness chirped, rushing over to Ireeca.

"Rose! This is Lyrith, the one who saved me from all those Apes I was telling you about! Lyr, this is Rose, Ness, Trixie and Tesla." Ireeca pointed to each one in turn, and each bowed to Lyrith. Except for Tesla, the older lightning dragon, who glared balefully at Lyrith.

"I bet he took the test and failed." Lyrith thought smugly, pretending not to notice that the dragon was attempting to bore holes through Lyr with his eyes.

"Did you really take on a dozen Ape dummies all by yourself?" Trixie, a small earth dragon asked, awe in her voice.

"No it was a dozen Apes, and an Ape mage leader, dolt." Ness corrected sagely, nodding his two horned head. He was an earth dragon like Trixie, presumably her brother.

"Pah! It was a dozen Apes, a war leader and a wolf rider, get your facts straight." Rose interrupted. The three burst into an argument, their voices rising to a fever pitch.

Lyrith blushed faintly. He had never had anyone argue over him before, unless it was over how useless he was. It was kind of cool.

"FOOLS!" Tesla shouted over the fighting dragons, pushing them to the side. He faced Lyrith, and was a few inches taller than the Albino.

"An Albino couldn't even take **four** Apes, ever! He probably faced two, maybe three, and lied about how many there were. And you know how bad Ireeca is with math." Tesla snarled

"Tes, you're just jealous because he is a Guardian's apprentice and you are not. Take it easy." Rose giggled, Tesla rounded on the young red.

"I AM NOT JEALOUS! I am mad that Inferna went easy on this lowborn, uneducated snake, just because he is an Albino."

Lyrith felt his anger bubble to the surface as the yellow dragon berated him. His lips peeled back revealing Lyr's fangs in a feral snarl.

"I am sorry; did I hurt Snowy's feelings?" Tesla mocked, facing Lyrith once more. "Why don't we make it even? You get one swipe at me. Hmm that seems fair don't you agree?" Tesla cocked his head waiting for Lyrith to strike. Lyr didn't take the bait. Lyrith tried desperately to regain control of his anger, but felt a low growl bubble from his throat.

"Too scared? Oh well then, I'll go first." Tesla leapt at Lyrith, Ireeca scrambled out of the way, as the yellow slammed into Lyrith. Lyr allowed Tesla to tackle him to the floor, and pin him there. Tesla grinned as his fangs flashed down to bite Lyr's neck. Lyr intercepted the dragon's muzzle with a swift punch from his clenched paw. Tesla reared up howling in pain and Lyrith followed him up, flipping the yellow over and pinning him to the ground. Tesla struggled but was no match for the Albino's superior strength.

"I may be a lowborn, uneducated snake, Tes." Lyrith hissed menacingly into the prone dragon's ear as he held him down. "But that doesn't mean I couldn't kick your ass if I wanted to."

Lyrith shoved off of the stunned lightning dragon, and got to his paws. He glanced over at Ireeca, and spoke in a clear voice.

"I'm done here, let's move on." Lyrith walked purposefully towards the library's exit. Ireeca followed the Albino. Rose, Trixie and Ness looked down at Tesla astonished, and then one by one, they followed Lyrith, leaving Tesla alone to sulk.

* * *

"So you took in a student… and yet you know nothing about his past?" Deran asked, an eye ridge raised. "How do you know if he will be a good student if you know nothing about him?"

Inferna rolled her eyes. "Of course I know something about him. I am not an idiot Deran; I took the time to investigate his past. All I want is to know it in better detail." Inferna looked back at Aggernon, who was watching them curiously.

"Before I tell zee anything, I need to know what zee knows about Lyr."

"Lyrith was born and raised in Dragon's Glade Orphanage. He has never had any form of schooling and has some kind of criminal past. He holds most other dragons in contempt, likely due to being bullied most of his life. He held a steady job at the smelters. And you Aggernon are his best and only friend." Inferna took a deep breath to steady herself.

Aggernon nodded impressed. "Zen zee knows about as much as I."

"What!" Inferna gasped in disbelief. "You are his best friend, surely you know more than I do!"

Aggernon held up his hands to stop Inferna from ranting anymore. Then took a swig from a tankard of ale he had swiped from a passing servant.

"I do know a beet more zan zee do. And I suspect much. But he hasn't told me anysing about his past. And I haf never pushed."

"Excuse me." Deran cut in before either could continue. "Did you say he worked at a smelter?" Deran gave Inferna an innocent and childish grin. Inferna sighed.

"He's going to be a student, Deran, not a forge worker."

"But you said he is an orphan," Deran pointed out. "Students do need to support themselves during their stay. Most get an income from their parents, or relatives. Lyrith won't have that luxury. He will need work to pay for the supplies or furnishings while he lives at the Temple."

Understanding dawned on Inferna, and she nodded conceding the point.

"True, just so long as he is willing and it doesn't interfere with his studies. Then I suppose he could work for you."

Deran's grin widened. A cough from Aggernon drew them back to the issue.

"Yes, back to the point. What more could you tell me?"

"Most of what I could tell zee can be explained from how I met heem."

Inferna and Deran settled down on the comfortable mattress and listened patiently while Aggernon took another swig from his tankard.

"I first met Lyrith, exactly five years ago, to zis day, while on my way back home from work…"

...

Darkness shrouded Warfang as a small mole rushed down the streets returning home. The wind blew roughly against him, slowing his run to a stagger. It was a clear night out, the stars shone brightly in the black sky, and the moons were slivers in the night.

Aggernon stumbled around a street bend relieved when the wind died down. A group of dragons staggered out from an alley beside Aggernon, laughing drunkenly, and singing Happy Hatchday in an off key chorus. Aggernon leapt back as they nearly trampled him, totally oblivious to the mole.

"Watch where zee iz going!" Aggernon shouted at the retreating dragons. He shook his head, what fools they were for wandering around the city drunk at this hour. Then he noticed a splatter of red coating the scales of a wind dragon. They trailed paw prints of red behind them as they stumbled away. Aggernon felt bile rise to his throat as he realised it was blood he saw. He peeked down the alley they had come from and saw a trickle of blood running from the darkness.

A sense of dread washed over Aggernon, who driven by morbid curiosity crept down the alley. He soon found the gang's victim; a young dragon that looked no more than thirteen lay broken on the ground. Blood welled up from the many cuts and slashes that marred his body. To his horror, Aggernon could see several stab wounds that bled furiously. The victim was surrounded by fragments of broken wood, and was coated with slop from a nearby trash bin that had been upturned over him. Beneath the grime the dragon's colour was uncertain.

Aggernon desperately pulled his small jacket from his shoulders and draped it over the prone dragon. He had no medical knowledge, but knew that if this dragon was left untreated for any longer, he would die.

_"I cannot carry zis dragon, but neizer can I leave heem. What should I do?"_ Aggernon thought, panicked. Then an idea came to him. His house was just down the block, he could get help from his family. Aggernon dashed from the alley and pounded down the street.

He burst through the door of his house, panting from his sprint. Inside, Aggernon's wife Milsey was cooking dinner. Glancing up at her husband, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

"What iz eet dear? What iz wrong?"

"No time to explain! Graan! Bellue! Come quick I need zee help!"

"What iz eet zee wants pa!" Two male moles, nearly old enough to be considered adults pounded down the stairs of the tiny home.

"Zere iz zeh dying dragon out zere! Come help me bring heem in!" With Graan and Bellue on his heels Aggernon rushed back over to the alley where the fallen dragon lay. Together, they hoisted the unconscious drake up and carried him back to their house.

Milsey had cleared a space and placed blankets on the floor by the time Aggernon and his two sons had returned with the dragon. They lay the bleeding dragon onto the blankets; Milsey wrinkled her nose at the stench from the filth covering the dragon.

"Get some water, we need to clean zis dragon off before heez wounds become infected." Aggernon rushed to do her bidding, quickly bringing a bucket of water and some wash cloths. The moles set to work scrubbing the grime from the dragon. The crud, still wet and stinky, soon washed away to reveal white scales beneath. An Albino.

Aggernon eyed the small dragon with interest. Jagged scars slashed over his form, far too many for such a young dragon to rightfully deserve. His body was slim and malnourished. Dark bruises bloomed across his body, visible even through the white scales.

"Zeh cuts and bruises should be no problem to heal. But zeh stab wounds will be treecky." Milsey pointed to the lacerations on the Albino's stomach, which bled out relentlessly.

"I cannot stich zem closed because of zeh scales, nor could I seal zeh wound with salve because zeh wounds have punctured zeh stomach. He will die if zose are not taken care of immediately.

Aggernon pondered the dilemma, unable to think of an answer. It was Bellue who came forth with one.

"Well, I still have zeh life crystal in my room…" Bellue suggested. Aggernon nodded enthusiastically. Bellue had found a huge life crystal while wandering the nearby forest one day. The gem was worth a fortune, but Bellue had kept it as a collector of pretty stones.

"Yes go and get eet Bell." Milsey insisted, holding a cloth to the puncture wounds. "Hurry, zis dragon may not survive much longer without eet."

Bellue charged up to his room, and came back down a moment later with a life crystal the size of his head. He plopped it down beside Milsey who took out a kitchen knife.

"Do we have to use all of it ma?" Bellue asked, perplexed as she started carving a piece from it.

"No, only enough to close zeh wounds." Milsey grunted as she pried a chunk the size of her thumb off of the jewel. Bellue tried not to whine at the mangling of his prized crystal, but failed. Milsey placed the crystal shard into the Albino's mouth. He reflexively swallowed the stone. Instantly the cuts and bruises faded away, and the wounds in the dragon's stomach closed, leaving only small indentations where they once bled.

"He will live. But zis dragon will need rest. I will clean up. Aggy, finish dinner for me." The mole complied, and the family settled down for the night, with a new guest under their tiny stone roof.

...

Aggernon finished his story, and swallowed the last of his ale. Inferna who had managed to hold in her questions till the end, exploded into a waterfall of inquiries.

"What happened next? Were those thugs ever brought to justice? Can you pass me those meat balls?"

Aggernon raised his hands as if to ward off any further questions. Then he passed her a platter of meatballs that lay beside him.

"Lyrith woke up zeh next day. He was distrustful at first, but eventually adjusted to us. He did not speek at all for zeh first day, and zeh second day only told us hees name. He was with us for a week before he left, and by zen he would speak openly with us. We invited heem to visit whenever he wanted, and he visited us every week." Aggernon snagged another tankard from a passing servant and drank deeply.

"I never heard of zose thugs again, so I assume they got away with zeh assault. I never got a good look at zeh cretins anyway, so I wouldn't be zeh one to ask." Aggernon got off the chair.

"If zee wants to know more, ask Lyr, I do not wish to say anymore behind hees back." Aggernon marched with stubby legs over to a servant serving appetizers. Deran gave Inferna a sceptical look.

"Sounds like you got yourself a fairly dangerous student Inferna. He gets caught up in street fights, a criminal record. Who knows what he is capable of?"

"I trust him Deran, he is honourable." Inferna stated, totally assured of herself.

"How can you know that?"

"Because his test told me so. I pitted him against thirteen ape dummies, and had a hostage to boot. I gave him every reason to leave; and he fought anyway. Lyr didn't even know he was being tested until I asked him to be my student."

"You tested him against **thirteen** Apes!" And you didn't even tell him he was being tested! That is horrible Inferna." Deran exclaimed aghast.

Inferna shrugged. "I've done worse."

* * *

Lyrith had never seen so much food in his life. He sat drooling in front of the huge banquet that would mark the halfway point of Ireeca's party. There was enough food on the table to feed the entire orphanage for a week, with snacks besides. Foods Lyrith had only heard about were piled in savoury mounds on top of huge platters.

Lyr had just finished his long tour of the mansion with Ireeca and her friends. He had been bombarded with nonstop questions about his life. Questions of his family, how he had gotten his many scars and countless others he would rather not talk about. He had answered a few, but avoided most, either refusing to answer or blatantly telling them to mind their own business. Rather than back down, his cold attitude had only served to renew their interest in him; resulting in more questions.

Lyrith felt his stomach growl; it had been ages since he had last eaten. He had forgotten both breakfast and lunch in the excitement of the day, and now that he had food right in front of him, he wanted desperately to dig in.

Lyrith sat at the head of the table with Ireeca and her friends. The crowd of other guests milled about, trying to find seats. Lyr was painfully aware that all eyes were on him, the Albino who sat beside the Duchess's daughter.

"So… When do we eat?" Lyr asked, trying not to sound hopeful, but failed.

"When mommy is finished her speech." Ireeca snickered at Lyr's crestfallen face.

Lyrith looked around the room; it was much the same as the other rooms. Elegant and rich almost to the point of being sickening. A large stone table ran down the length of the room. The other side was dominated by a colourful pile of wrapped gifts. Inferna had given Lyrith a gift to give to Ireeca, but he had no idea what was in it.

Lyr caught sight of Tesla skulking on the other side of the table, avoiding Lyrith's gaze. Lyrith couldn't help but grin victoriously. Aggernon, Inferna and Deran were sitting not far down from Lyr. They waved to Lyr, who returned the gestured uncertainly.

Once everyone had been seated, Arquin, on the other side or Ireeca from Lyrith stood up, drawing everyone's immediate attention.

"Thank you for coming here today, on this special day. Today marks the day of my beloved daughter Ireeca's hatching, and the day she turns ten. This is an important year for every dragon, as it marks the time when a dragon can take responsibility for themselves, and their actions. It is the moment in their lives when they stop being dragonlings, and begin on the path of true dragons! With you, we shall celebrate this momentous occasion in Ireeca's life, and hope for joy in her future! Now eat, drink and be merry, for this day is a day of joy!" Arquin finished her speech with a bow, to the applause of the crowd.

Everyone dived into the meal, piling as much food onto their plates as possible. Most of the food was a selection of meats for the dragons of the attendants, but there were platters of fruits and salads for the non-dragons as well. Lyrith found as many of these plates as he could, the Albino had always believed in a balanced meal. Once he had stacked as much food as physically possible onto his plate, he dug in, savouring each mouthful.

Ireeca watched in horror as he bit into a roasted apple. "How can you eat that? It has no flavour at all!"

Lyr shrugged, finishing off the apple and starting on a blueberry tart.

"I can taste it."

"What does it taste like?" Rose cut in curious.

"The other races call it sweet, it tastes like…." Lyrith thought about it for a moment. "It tastes like a mouthful of happy."

"Happy tastes like water?" Trixie asked sceptical.

"Not at all… you would have to taste it to understand."

The meal was as delectable as it had appeared to be, and Lyrith ate his fill. Despite not having any breakfast or lunch, Lyrith found that he ate the least. Having only one plate, while everyone else had seconds, some even thirds. It took several hours for the meal to finish, but Lyrith had enjoyed himself greatly, chatting with Ireeca and laughing at the silly group of mole clowns Arquin had hired.

"Mommy, can I open the presents now?" Ireeca asked impatiently, finally fed up with waiting. Arquin chuckled at the pouting frown her daughter gave her.

"Sure, why not."

Ireeca bounded happily to the hoard of gifts and all but dove in. She snatched up a red wrapped box and proceeded to tear it open. The guests crowded around her, handing her gifts from the pile. She exclaimed with joy after opening each gift, thanking the giver with a hug or a childish kiss. Lyrith watched her opening her hatchday gifts with a small smile. Amused at her antics.

"Oh! This one is from Lyr!" Ireeca cried, pulling a green bag from the pile. She opened it and shrieked with joy. "A tiara! How did you know I wanted one?"

Ireeca hugged Lyrith tightly; the white was sure he felt a rib crack.

"Um, lucky guess?" He gasped when she released him.

"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Ireeca squealed putting the tiara on. Ireeca went back to her presents, ripping the colourful wrapping off the packages. The crowd slowly dispersed, having seen the hatchday dragoness open their presents, the guests set off to celebrate elsewhere.

Lyrith wandered over to a mattress and sat down to watch Ireeca open her last gifts in comfort. He looked upon the scene with interest, he had never been to a hatchday party before, and the whole concept puzzled him.

_"What is so special about this one day? It only signifies that you have survived another year. Why celebrate it?"_ Lyrith asked himself, and was unable to answer his own question. But as he watched Ireeca and her friends tearing open the presents and playing with their contents he felt left out. A kind of emptiness he hadn't felt for years welled up in him. He imagined it was him ripping open those gifts, and showing them to his friends and family. Playing with the gifts so willingly given, without any worries or regrets. Blissfully ignorant of the harsh world around him. The longing only grew.

Inferna must have seen his disheartened expression as she approached Lyrith with a worried expression.

"Is something the matter?"

"No." Lyr snapped back. Inferna frowned.

"It doesn't look that way. Are you sure?" Inferna inquired again. Lyr ground his fangs, trying to keep from sounding too harsh.

"Yes I'm **sure**. There is nothing **wrong**."

"Now I am sure something is the matter." Inferna lay down beside Lyrith and watched him. Lyrith kept his gaze pointedly away from her. "You can tell me what the problem is. I won't judge you."

"My **problem** is that you keep asking me what my problem is!" Lyr snapped unable to keep his anger in check any longer. Inferna gave him a hurt look.

"I was only trying to help. You don't have to be so harsh."

Lyrith looked away, ashamed he had lashed out at her. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"Thank you. Now please tell me what is wrong, if someone hurt you, I can help."

"It's nothing." Lyr sighed, but glanced at Ireeca who had finished unwrapping her gifts and was now playing around with her new toys. Inferna caught his glance, and looked at Ireeca. She pondered as Lyrith quickly looked away from Ireeca and looked for something else to watch.

"You've been an orphan your whole life…." Inferna muttered, and then it dawned on her. "Don't tell me you have never had a hatchday party!"

Lyrith growled but said nothing. Inferna shook her head, shocked.

"Oh Lyrith. No wonder you're so upset. You've lived your life with so little comfort, and then you see what you never got to have. It must hurt so much…."

Lyrith didn't answer, but she saw him slump a little.

"Tell you what. Tell me when your hatchday is, and I will arrange a party for you." Inferna murmured consolingly to the Albion. Lyr gave her a flat look.

"Can you get it together by the end of today?"

Inferna's jaw hit the floor.

"Today! Your hatchday is today! Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

"I didn't think it important." Lyrith grumbled, looking away from Inferna again. "I don't really expect you to do anything anyways. I've lived seventeen years without a hatchday party; I can go another year or two without."

Inferna looked down at her student with pity. He had missed so much in his life. Hatchdays, gifts, an Element, even parents were denied to him. Inferna suddenly felt selfish. As a Guardian, her hatchdays were lavish affairs with many gifts and friends. But Lyrith's predicament was a harsh reminder that she was lucky, and she had flaunted his loss in his face by bringing him here.

"Lyr, I want you to have this. You deserve it more than I do." Inferna whispered, pulling the silver and opal pendant from her neck and handing it to the Albino. Lyrith gazed down at the amulet with awe. It was the most valuable thing he had held in his life. Inferna felt a stab of grief at the parting of that pendant. It was the last memento of her departed parents.

She was given it for her hatchday party when she was sixteen by her mother and father. She had hated it, and had told them so. She had wanted a ruby amulet, but they instead gave her an opal. She had run away that night in a tear filled tantrum. Declaring she hated her parents. Inferna had never forgiven herself for those words, because she never got a chance to take them back. The next day she had returned to find the village under Ape invasion and her parents slaughtered by the Ape king, Gaul. That battle had marked the beginning of the war between Malefor and the Dragon Realms. She had worn the pendant every day after to remember her lost parents.

Inferna helped Lyrith slip the pendant on, the Albino still stunned at the gift. Its polished surface gleamed against his white scales. Lyrith looked down at the piece of jewellery bemused.

"It looks good on you. Like it was made for you." Inferna noted, admiring how the silver matched Lyr's white scales.

"I…I don't know what to say…" Lyr stuttered. Inferna smiled at his awkward response.

"A thank you would do."

"Uh, thank you." Lyrith mumbled. Ireeca must have sensed Lyrith's awkward moment as she appeared beside him without warning.

"What is going on? I saw you give Lyr your amulet Inferna. I know how important it is to you, why did you just give it away?"

Lyrith gave the amulet a glance and then looked back at Inferna. _"If the amulet was so important to her, why **did** she give it to me?"_

"Ireeca! Did you know you share hatchdays with Lyrith?" Inferna neatly evaded the question and switched the little dragoness's attention over to Lyrith.

"It's your hatchday! And you didn't tell me! What will I get you? You gave me this beautiful tiara, and I have nothing to give you!" Ireeca was beside herself with concern. Her breath hitched up and she looked on the verge of panicking. Lyrith glared icily at Inferna.

"It's alright. I don't need a present. It's your party. Go on and enjoy it. You can get me two presents next year if you want." Lyrith consoled the young dragoness. It didn't help much.

"No! I have to get you a gift. It would not be fair if you gave me a gift and I did not get one for you!" She glanced around, as if looking for ideas. Then her eyes widened and a smile crossed her muzzle. She sprinted over to her hoard of gifts and burrowed into it. She emerged with a leather bound book between her fangs and she quickly returned to Lyr with it.

"I know how much you like books, so I thought you might like this." Ireeca panted, handing the book to Lyrith. He took it uneasily. The book was blood red in colour, and etched with gold symbols. Its empty creamy white pages were lined with gold.

"I can't take this. It's a gift you got from one of your guests…." Lyr tried to give it back to Ireeca.

"I already have a journal, and it is just as fancy as this one. You can have it." Ireeca said, pushing the journal back into Lyrith's paws.

"Th…Thank you." Lyrith stammered, having no idea what else he could say.

"You're welcome. It may not have as much meaning as Inferna's gift, but it should do nicely. Besides, you will want a place to write about your days at the Temple."

Lyr nodded. The three stood awkwardly for a moment. It was Inferna who broke the silence.

"Well, now we have games to play, right?" The Fire Guardian suggested.

"Oh yes!" Ireeca squealed in delight. "The games! Come on Lyr, Let's go and play pin the flower on the Frogweed!" She grabbed Lyr by the paw with her tail and she led him across the room to where the younglings played the party games. This time Lyrith followed willingly, as smile etched across his features.

The party lasted late into the night. Lyrith played a host of games with his young friends; flaming spud, bowling for icicles, and hop stones being but a few. Inferna had danced a merry jig for the crowd and had managed to persuade most of the crowd to join her. Aggernon had entered a drinking competition and had come out on top, surpassing even Inferna, whose alcohol resilience was legendary. Lyrith had partaken in a few drinks himself, and became sufficiently muddled for several dragonlings to convince him to let them paint on him.

The white had stood proudly as the dragonlings used him as a canvas, drawing on his snow white form with all manner of paints. He had only come to his senses once they had started drawing unicorns and rainbows on him. He had fled from the dragonlings and hid in a closet for an hour to clean himself up. Even he had some measure of dignity.

They had departed much to the sorrow of Ireeca, who had given Lyrith a tearful farewell, and promised to see him again their next hatchday. Deran, the only totally sober of the four, and therefor designated flyer, guided the rowdy Guardian, and Albino through the skies towards the train station. Aggernon, who was perched on Deran's back waved his hands up and down laughing, believing it was he who was flying.

They reached the station without incident but landed with a crash. Deran sighed as he looked down at the heap of Inferna and Lyrith, who were laughing hysterically on the ground. The forge master walked up beside them and helped the two to their paws.

"Come on, the train is over here, not far now."

Aggernon tumbled from Deran's back as he guided the two dragons into the station. Deran sighed again and scooped the mole up with his tail. The train was an iron contraption, with a chimney of steel that belched smoke into the sky. A long railroad had been established a few years ago for fast travel between the major cities of the Dragon Realms. A station could be found in the Town by the Temple.

"So I guess…. I guess this is goodbye Aggy…" Lyrith hiccupped, to the all but comatose mole. Aggernon looked up blearily, and grinned oafishly.

"Ah, dooont be sthad…. Lierif…. We ad sthum grate times togeethar, no?" Aggernon slurred, hardly able to stay upright.

"Yeah… We did. Goodbye Aggy." Lyrith hugged the small mole and then, dry eyed, staggered onto the train and disappeared. Inferna looked at Deran, her gaze slightly unfocused but still penetrating.

"Are you coming Deran?" She asked the forge master. Deran shook his head.

"No, I still have to finish Pyron's ceremonial armour. I cannot just abandon the Dragon King's commission and return home. Even I need to make a living."

Pyron, Dragon king and one of the five kings of the realms ruled over the dragon populace. There was a king for each race, forming a council of five kings. A king of the dragons, a king of the moles, a king of the avians, a king of the canines, and king of the felines. These kings ruled jointly, each with their own duties and jobs. All followed a general code with which to govern the Realms. No one, not even the Guardians would be foolish enough to deny a King's wish. Though the Guardians were honoured by the Kings, and their decisions respected.

"When will you ever come home?" Inferna implored of Deran jokingly. Deran chuckled.

"I know! I'm such a workaholic. It must be so lonely living at the Temple for months without me." They laughed together. Inferna slumped onto Deran's shoulder. They sat together for a moment, enjoying each other's presence.

"I love you, Deran." Inferna murmured, snuggling up close to the earth dragon's strong body.

"I love you too." Deran whispered back. They kissed, short but passionate. Then Inferna broke away, pulling back from the forge master.

"Please come home soon. I really do miss you…." Inferna pleaded as she stepped onto the train.

"I will, I promise." Deran pledged, raising a paw in farewell. Inferna waved back, and then disappeared into the iron body of the train. With its last passenger on board, a mole servant shut the door, sealing the entrance. Deran watched as the train began its preparations for departure. He caught a quick glance of Inferna and Lyrith behind one of the curtained windows, before the train began its slow start on its long journey.

"Well, I guess it's time to get you home." Muttered Deran to the semi-conscious mole. Aggernon shifted as Deran picked him up and placed him on his green back.

"I can… Geet home joost fine wiffout zee help….Dareen. Aggernon said between hiccups.

"Yeah sure. You can't even get my name right, let alone walk. Tell me where you live and I will give you a grand entrance."

"Fffine, joost get mee zere in one piece." Aggernon grumbled, and gave Deran directions before slumping onto the green dragon's shoulder, sound asleep. Deran chuckled dryly, made sure the mole was secure, and then took off.

Deran soared over Warfang and back towards the slums. Behind him, the iron train chugged its way along the long track towards the Temple, bearing with it, the long awaited Fire Guardian, and her new student.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith

Inferna

Aggernon, Milsey, Bellue, and Graan

Deran

Ireeca, Rose, Tesla, Trixie and Ness

Arquin

Lyrith is finally on his way to the Temple. It's about time you say; irritated that it took me seven chapters to start him on his journey. Well it will take him two more (arrives at chapter 9) to get there so you are going to have to wait a little longer :P. This chapter was a lot more fun to write than I thought it would be. I thought this would be boring, but I was wrong, especially around the beginning and ending. Drunk Inferna and Lyrith were fun to imaginate (imagine plus create) and something I look forward to doing again in the future.

Edit: Still haven't done another drunk Inferna or Lyrith. xD (Maybe I'll give it a shot at the ending. ^^) I remember this chapter quite fondly, though, looking back, I'm surprised how much the tone of my story has changed. It is so light hearted, that the darkness ahead is almost shocking. Sometimes I wish I could go back to writing like this, but I've decide this is for the best. xD I wouldn't be able to pull off any of the stuff I've done without that change in tone. :3


	8. Regret

Chapter 8: Regret

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other place or character that belongs to the Spyro franchise. However, several of my characters are featured in the following chapter. Their names are listed below… What? Did you think I would do a random funny in my disclaimer every chapter? Well I have something to tell you. It would be ridiculous to assume I would… have a pear in my pants? How did that get in there?_

Cynder's snores woke Spyro in the cool spring morning. The purple dragon groaned, as the black dragoness's earth shaking snuffles tore him from his peaceful slumber. The sun had yet to rise, and the world was still, the silence broken only by the Shadow Guardian's ridiculously loud snores.

Spyro turned over and covered his head with one of the plush cushions of their bed, trying desperately to block out the noise. He failed. Spyro ground his fangs as she shuffled over and began snoring into his ear. Normally, Spyro's nights with Cynder were quiet, soothing and blissful. But occasionally a night like this occurred.

Cynder often complained that Spyro's snores kept her awake long into the night. Spyro never had the guts to tell her she snored like a congested hippo. Her snores literally rattled the chains that held their bed up at the top of the room.

Finally giving up any hope of sleep, Spyro got out of bed and walked towards the edge of the platform. Once she started snoring like this, she would not stop until daybreak. Cynder, feeling her source of warmth leave, instinctively curled up into a ball and continued snoring.

Spyro sighed as he stepped off the platform and glided down into his chamber. He landed on the platform that led to Savron's room and entered. The room was surprisingly neat. It never ceased to amaze Spyro that his son was so organized, yet was still so unruly and troublesome. Souvenirs from Savron's many adventures were displayed on shelves around his room. Books lined several bookshelves beside the bed of pillows where Savron lay sleeping.

Aquina had decided that Savron was well enough to go back to sleeping in his room. He still could not participate in classes, but was no longer wounded enough to continue taking up space in the infirmary. Spyro moved over to his sleeping son and watched him sleep. The young purple's even breathing in stark contrast with Cynder's obnoxious snores. Bandages and salves covered his scaled body. Most of the wounds would not scar, thanks to Aquina's excellent healing; however Savron would definitely retain a few souvenirs from this venture.

As Spyro approached the bed, Savron shifted, and opened his eyes.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Savron murmured, still half asleep.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing." Spyro answered softly as he sat down beside the bed.

Savron grinned sleepily. "As well as I could be doing, considering I nearly became spider food."

"Well enough to go back to classes?"

Savron rolled his eyes, and then his face became serious. "Dad, are you mad that I took some of your crystals?"

Spyro examined his son's expression, and then smiled. "Not: 'am I mad that you went off into the swamp, disobeyed your mother, and nearly got you and your friends killed?'"

Savron frowned at his father's playful accusation. Spyro laughed and nudged Savron with his nose, careful not to push any of his wounds.

"No, I am not mad that you took some of my crystals. On the contrary, I am actually quite proud of you."

Savron looked startled. He pulled himself half off the bed to get a better look into his father's eyes.

"Really?" He inquired, shocked. Spyro nodded.

"Imagine if you were lost out in the swamp, with no way of healing your wounds. Had any of you been injured, and with no help coming, those crystals would have been the only thing keeping you alive. I am proud that you realised that risk, and took precautions."

Savron beamed with pride.

"Just never do it again. Either wandering off into the swamp alone, or taking my stuff without my permission. Understood?" Spyro said his voice suddenly hardening. Savron jerked back at his hard words, and then sighed.

"I guess I'm going to be grounded a long time, huh?"

Spyro examined his son's crestfallen face, his expression softening.

"Have you ever heard of the phrase, out of the frying pan, and into the fire?"

Savron nodded dejectedly.

"Well you are in the fire now." Spyro pointed out. Savron sighed and slumped back onto his bed. Spyro watched his son shuffle around for a more comfortable position with a pitying expression. After Savron's latest stunt, Cynder would be locking him in his room for months after his classes were finished. There would be no more adventuring for a long time, or if Cynder could manage it, ever again.

Spyro leaned forward and placed his massive head on the bed beside Savron and winked.

"Let us see if I can't manage to turn down the heat though."

Savron grinned gratefully as Spyro lay down beside the bed.

"Thanks dad, that would be great."

The two lay in silence for a time, watching through the nearby window as the sun slowly began its assent over the horizon. It was Savron who broke the silence.

"Dad, why is mom so protective? She is all over me whenever I get into the slightest bit of trouble. It isn't fair! She is smothering me!"

Spyro's expression immediately saddened. Savron looked at him curiously.

"It is a long and painful story Savron, and something we don't like to talk about." Spyro whispered mournfullt. Savron, his interest peaked, prodded some more.

"Please dad, I really want to know. I am not a dragonling anymore."

Spyro looked into his son's emerald eyes and saw a young dragon, eager to learn, but still unsure of his place in this world. He sighed and nodded.

"Let's just say there was a time when you would have been a younger brother."

Savron sucked in a breath, instantly realising what Spyro meant.

"By would have, you mean…?" Savron could not finish the sentence. Spyro could only nod, tears glistening in his eyes. Savron suddenly felt guilty for hurting his dad because of his own curiosity.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I just…"

"It's alright, you deserved to know." Spyro whispered, sorrow straining his voice. "Cynder and I are so protective of you because we don't want to lose you as well."

"What happened?" Savron asked sensitively, not wanting to pry open any more wounds, but unable to stop himself.

"I will tell you another time. When we are both ready." Spyro stood up, and started walking towards the door. "I'll go get you your breakfast. You will need all of your strength, if you are to recover as soon as possible."

"Dad." Savron called out to his father's retreating form. The purple stopped and looked back at Savron, having managed to dry his eyes and beat the last of his tears.

"Why did you come down here? Really?" Savron asked. A smile cracked over Spyro's face. He looked around, as if searching for a snooper. Then he whispered, just loud enough for Savron to hear.

"Just between you and me, your mother snores."

* * *

Tirren sighed, pushing her breakfast around her plate. She had not eaten a bite. Igneous watched her play with her food, worried. Ever since her fight with Wintra the day before she had been depressed. She had hardly talked to anyone. She had finished her classes in sullen silence, and then retreated to her rooms, where she had stayed, leaving only for dinner.

Around them, the students talked animatedly, about their classes, friends and homework. But the most common topic was about yesterday's duel. Wintra had boasted about her victory, turning the accident that had won the day, into a desperate dodge that had won the day. Igneous, and anyone else who knew that the sharp end of a sword was dangerous, understood Wintra had won by chance alone and that Tirren would have won, if Wintra hadn't slipped and fell.

But despite this certainty, Tirren was still depressed. And it disturbed Igneous to see her so sad when she should be moving on.

Igneous scooted over and placed a paw on Tirren's shoulder.

"You did well yesterday. You had Wintra on the ropes right up until the end."

"Right when I **lost**." Tirren sulked, shaking Igneous's paw from her shoulder. Igneous frowned. This wasn't the Tirren he knew. The Tirren he knew could take a loss. She was composed, and calm, and always clear headed. The Tirren before him was sulky and obviously sore at her loss.

Tirren felt wretched, she had tried so hard to win that fight. She had wanted more than anything to beat Wintra, for Igneous, to show him she was capable. But she had lost, and according to Wintra, because of her own reckless attack.

Igneous watched Tirren now very worried for her. She shouldn't be acting like this. Sure she had lost, but losing was just another opportunity to learn. and she had been on the cusp of winning too. She should be proud of the achievement. She had effectively proved she was better than Wintra. Sleet ambled over, Typhous beside him who was wearing a scarf of ruby red. They sat down on the pillows on either side of the two, placing their breakfast down in front of them.

"Typhous! How are you feeling?" Igneous exclaimed, clasping the wind dragons paw in a firm grip. Typhous grinned back shyly, and extracted his paw from Igneous's vice-like hold.

"Well, better than yesterday that is for certain." Typhous answered, picking up a slice of his meal and devouring it greedily. While Typhous ate, Sleet glanced up at Tirren, noticing her crestfallen expression.

"What's wrong Tirren? You look kind of sad."

"I'm not sure. I think it has something to do with losing yesterday's duel though." Igneous answered for her. Tirren continued to eat in silence, but she inwardly flinched at the reminder. Typhous looked up and shook his head sadly.

"Truly a shame, I hear you did excellent though."

"Yeah." Sleet agreed. "She was **amazing**. I wish I could fight like that."

_"Obviously I wasn't good enough."_ Tirren thought sadly, finally giving up on eating her meal and pushing it away.

From the other side of the room, Wintra and her entourage watched Tirren beat herself up. Her friends, not understanding why she was so depressed, were unable to help her.

Torch chuckled. "My. You really have Tirren down in the dumps don't you?"

Wintra giggled. "It is so much fun to watch her squirm. Her friends have no idea how to help her. They really are quite daft aren't they?"

"I can hardly believe the one who calls himself my rival can be so unbelievably oblivious at times."

"And Tirren is so helpless; I can't even call her my own rival!"

Beside them, Thunder chortled. "Like you can call her helpless! She just about tore you apart yesterday! If anyone is helpless it is you!"

"Shut up!" Wintra hissed. Torch burst into a chuckle. Wintra pouted, and Thunder nudged her with his wing to show her he was joking. Wintra huffed and flicked her head in a gesture of dismissal. They continued to watch Tirren struggle through her meal, amused at the downcast look on her face which her friends were oblivious to the cause of.

"Hey Tirren!" Torch shouted over the crowd, drawing everyone's attention. "What is it like realising you are only a **second-class** fighter!"

All conversation in the kitchen abruptly stopped. Torch smirked at Tirren's horrified expression. Tirren couldn't muster the strength to counter the comment. All eyes were on her, waiting for her reply. Igneous responded first.

"Would you **shut up** Torch? It is none of your business, so go and shove your steak up your…"

Torch ignored Igneous, but instead focused on Tirren, she flinched visibly when Igneous came to her rescue. The golden garbed red's grin widened as he saw Tirren's face become more and more distressed. Igneous's sudden defence only making the wound to her pride even worse. All she wanted was to sink back into the background, but Igneous was only drawing more attention to her and her loss.

Finally Tirren could not take it anymore; she stood up and all but ran from the room, trying to hide her tears. Igneous's rant about what Torch should be doing with his napkin faltered.

"R-Rin!" Igneous shouted, and then turned and bolted after the fleeing earth dragoness. Typhous and Sleet cast Torch a hateful glare, before chasing after the two. Some of the other students chuckled at Tirren's horrified expression as she fled; a few gave Torch disgusted glances. Most, however watched impassively, not wanting to get involved. Torch sat down satisfied with him.

"What a perfect beginning to our day." Wintra purred, resting her head on Torch's shoulder.

"Indeed."

...

"Rin! Wait up!" Igneous shouted as he chased Tirren down the hall. Tirren ignored him, no longer trying to hide her tears. She sobbed as she tore down the hall and away from Igneous. The distraught green dragoness forced her way through a crowd of servants and into the female's corridor.

She raced down the now empty hall towards her room. She paid no heed to her surroundings and did not see the Albino step out of an adjoining hall and right in front of her. She crashed into the white dragon and the two tumbled to the floor. The laundry that the white had been holding was thrown up into the air and fell to the ground.

"Owww… That hurt." The Albino groaned, shifting beneath Tirren. Tirren jerked to her paws and muttered a quick apology before racing the last distance to her room and disappearing into it. The Albino was an off-white colour, two silver horns crowned his head, and his eyes were a pinkish red. The dragon stood up shakily, and started picking up the fallen laundry muttering.

Igneous raced around the corner and unable to stop, crashed into the Albino. The white crashed to the floor again with a yelp, the laundry once more in the air. Igneous got up and helped the white to his paws. The Albino grumbled.

"That's twice now in less than a minute. And what will Lady Ember think when she sees all of her clean towels ruined!"

"Sorry Twar." Igneous apologized, helping the white pick up the towels. "I didn't see you there."

"Nobody sees me." Twar grumbled, stacking the towels neatly. "And that's the problem. It seems everyone is actively seeking me out to tackle me or something. Yesterday there was Zindy, the day before that was Danrah and her brother Vash. Now you and Tirren. Will I ever get anything done without somebody running into me?"

"Speaking of Tirren." Igneous inquired, handing Twar the last of the towels. "Where did she go?"

Twar pointed to the room Tirren had fled into and set off with his load. Igneous walked towards the door nervously. He should not even be here, this was the females corridor, and he had already gotten into trouble once before for being here uninvited. As Twar strode back down the hall, Igneous remembered something.

"Uh Twar, watch out for…."

Sleet and Typhous shot around the corner and slammed into Twar. The towels were hurtled into the air and landed on the three stunned dragons. A small rag drifted down and got caught on one of Igneous's horns. The red sighed. Twar beat his paws against the ground in a fit of anger and started cursing violently.

Sleet and Typhous got to their paws cautiously, giving Igneous curious glances. Twar continued his tantrum, uncaring who heard or saw him. Igneous shrugged and picked the small rag from his horns. The red then stepped up to Tirren's room; Igneous swallowed then opened the door. Inside Tirren lay on her bed, back to the door. She had managed to regain control of her sobbing but still refused to look at the three.

"Tirren? Are you okay?" Igneous asked of the green. Typhous rolled his eyes.

"Of course she is not alright. Ancestors! Sometimes I think you are as dumb as a post Igneous."

Tirren did not answer, instead she hunched over, as if trying to protect herself. Igneous cautiously approached her, and placed a paw on her shoulders.

"What is wrong? Please tell me, we can help."

"I l-lost the d-duel Igneous. I p-promised I would win the d-duel for you. But I just wasn't g-good enough…" Tirren stuttered through hiccups and small sobs. Igneous frowned at her, not fully understanding.

"But you were excellent. You would have won the duel if Wintra had not slipped and fell."

"Y-You are just saying that to make me f-feel better." Tirren sniffed. It finally dawned on Igneous. And he cursed himself for being so stupid.

"Tirren, don't tell me you actually believe Wintra! You should know better that to believe anything she says! She tripped and fell; she did not pull off a spectacular dodge."

At last Tirren glanced back at Igneous; she sniffed again, her expression hopeful.

"Really?"

"Yeah really."

A shy smile broke over Tirren's muzzle. She got up and faced the three who sat relieved Tirren seemed to be returning to normal.

"I guess I really made a fool of myself huh?" Tirren laughed weakly.

"No more than any of us would Rin." Typhous chuckled.

"Oh no! I'm doomed!" Tirren exclaimed in mock horror, placing a paw on her forehead for emphasis.

"Hey!" The three males cried, and then they all started laughing. It took them nearly a minute to regain control of their chuckles.

"I guess we should get to class." Sleet smiled shyly. Tirren nodded in agreement. "And get you out of here before someone catches you in my room."

Her statement stopped the last of the three's laughter. They looked at each other nervously.

"Oh, right. Let's go, preferably before we all get caught."

* * *

The council chamber buzzed with chattering as the Temple staff took their seats. The room was lit by a massive chandelier high above the dragon's heads. Stained glass windows depicting all manner of colourful images let in a rainbow of colours. The Temple staff, numbering close to two dozen dragons, with a scattering of other races sat around a massive circular table. Everyone took a seat on the cushioned bench's that surrounded the table.

Spyro yawned, completely exhausted. Classes had ended an hour ago, and he could barely keep his eyes open. Cynder glanced at her mate curiously as he wobbled on his seat beside her.

"Tired?" She smiled at the purple, who grinned back at her, eyelids drooping.

"Didn't get much sleep." He mumbled, trying to focus his gaze on the black dragoness.

"Why didn't you wake me? I could have **helped** you sleep…" Cynder trailed off seductively, rubbing her side against his. He pecked her cheek with a kiss.

"But you looked so peaceful, I couldn't wake you." Spyro murmured managing not to laugh at the mental image of Cynder sprawled on the bed, snoring uproariously.

"Aw, that is so sweet of you!" Cynder grinned, nuzzled Spyro on the cheek. "Now I have to make it up to you."

Spyro could not help but feel smug.

_"Sometimes,_" he thought as he nuzzled back. _"Going through a sleepless night can be worth the pain."_

"This meeting will now begin!" Terrador rumbled over the murmur of conversation. The room fell silent as Volteer stood up to address the assembled staff.

"Asyouareallaware…" Volteer began, then cleared his throat and started again after a glare from his fellows.

"As you are all aware, exams are approaching quickly and the students have been studying remarkably well! Stupendously in fact! What I propose is we throw our wonderful students a celebration to honour their efforts! Once examinations are over of course. There should be cake, all manner of games, and a contest, entertainment and…" Volteer paused to draw breath, despite slowing down, he could barely be understood, and had not taken a single breath until now.

Much to the staff's relief, Cyril cut in.

"Thank you Volteer, for that…. Informative speech. And I agree with you, for once. We should throw a party for my wonderful students. But is it really necessary to celebrate with a festival, as I assume you are suggesting. I believe we should celebrate in smaller, more easily controlled parties, do you not agree?"

The staff murmured in assent. The festival several days back had been hard enough to set up, and all but impossible to regulate.

"I think smaller parties are an excellent idea!" A huge muscle bound ice dragon bellowed. The dragons beside him grumbled and covered their ringing ears. "After all, we have already had a festival recently. We don't want to play the same tune over and over again!"

The staff nodded in agreement with their colleague.

"I must agree with Serion, we don't want to appear repetitive." Terrador responded, nodding with approval. Serion grinned.

"Why thank you… Uh… Lake Guzzler! You have my thanks."

Terrador sighed and placed a paw over his eyes. Serion's annoying habit of forgetting names was irksome at best, but the terrible nicknames he fabricated to make up for his lacking memory was intolerable. And that didn't even cover the reminder the name brought up that one time Terrador had one a drinking contest against the physical education teacher, and made a ridiculous boast he would regret to the end of his days: That he could drink a lake of alcohol if he so chose.

The staff snickered at the name, which almost made the exasperated Guardian blush. His nickname was a constant embarrassment, which he would regret for the rest of his life. Not that anyone else's was any better.

Terrador let the chuckles fade away, and then he cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention.

"Then a vote. Everyone in favour of a celebration to honour our students, say aye."

The whole staff, with the exception of Cadence gave a chorus of ayes.

"And all in favour of a small scale celebration say aye."

A clear majority agreed. Volteer pouted, disappointed that his festival idea was rejected. Terrador cleared his throat again.

"Now that we have all got that subject settled. Spyro, would you please tell us about our Feran friend?"

Spyro blinked sleepily, and got to his paws. He gazed around the room, trying unsuccessfully to clear his vision.

"The ambassador was satisfied we meant his people no harm. In fact, he was so pleased with our treatment that he is ready to open negotiations for a treaty between his kingdom and ours."

The assembly clapped with their approval and Spyro sat back on his haunches, grateful he had not fallen asleep midsentence. Terrador smiled at the exhausted purple with satisfaction.

"This is excellent news Spyro! Thank you for your patience with our guest. Now onto other matters of importance…"

"Is there any news of Inferna yet?" Cadence cut in with a growl. The Guardians glanced at Cadence with disapproval. Not two days ago Cynder had come forth with the idea of a bet, the subject of which was when the Fire Guardian would return, and if it would be with a student. The staff, bored and frustrated with Inferna, had taken up the gamble eagerly. Each placed their names, along with the belongings and the total value of their bet on a scroll Cynder had brought with her.

Flame, ever eager to show off, had set the price with a jeweled behemoth claw. Spyro had bet a heap of his old armour sets, and Cynder a drawer of old jewellery. The rest of the staff had scrounged up a small hoard of treasures to match Flame's bet.

"Cadence," Cynder breathed a sigh of exasperation. "We have not received any word from Inferna as of yet. When we do, we will tell you. Until then, you can wait patiently like everyone else."

The one eyed wind dragon huffed and fell silent, glaring around him angrily. Out of the three of Cynder's options, Inferna returning after three months' time was the most popular. Most of the staff firmly believed Inferna would not return for another six months. The Fire Guardian had a nasty habit of avoiding work. And since the Temple was where she worked, she made frequent trips away from her home, often without any warning.

Cadence, the cynical and mean spirited dragon he was, firmly believed Inferna's search for a student was a trick to get out of work. And that she would return soon enough, but without the student she claimed to be searching for. He was in the minority however, with only two others following his lead.

_"I hope she comes back soon."_ Spyro mused sleepily. _"If she doesn't, my sculpture might be sold off before I can get it…"_

Spyro was desperate to get the bust of the rainbow coloured dragon. If he won, he would not only get a large share of the loot, but also the wondrous sculpture. Spyro, along with Flame, Darius, Serion, Volteer and Hunter all had bet on Inferna returning with a student within the three month period.

"Now then. Back to the issue of…." Terrador began his description of the many problems that arose in an academy of this size. Spyro leaned on Cynder, trying to keep from falling asleep and making an utter fool of himself. His efforts were futile however, and he was quickly dragged into the realm of dreams.

* * *

Savron lay on his bed of cushions, despondently trying to sleep. The afternoon sun, which shone through his window directly into his eyes, ruined any hope of such rest. From outside birds sang cheerfully to each other about the beautiful day, seeds and other birdy things. The purple could faintly hear the chattering voices of his fellow students, talking the day away and enjoying their freedom.

Savron could not help but sulk, wishing he was out there, talking with his friends and planning his next adventure. But it was because of one such outing he was trapped inside his room. Beside him, a pile of text books and notes lay, brought in by two overburdened servants. They had told him his mother had collected all of his homework for the day, and wanted him to do some work while he was grounded.

Savron was repulsed by the prospect. He had hoped, in his grounded and injured state, that he would be safe from his mentors, even if only for a short while. It appeared that was not what Cynder had in mind however.

In a show of defiance, Savron had sent the servants away, and had refused to even look at his mountain of homework. Instead he had ambled around his room, reading, playing with a few of his old toys or rearranging his decorations. The young dragon had quickly tired of such activities and returned to his bed for some sleep.

Now with his mind wandering, and unable to get any sleep, Savron found himself returning to the conversation he and his father had early that morning. It all seemed like a dream to him. He had once had an older brother, or sister, he was not yet sure which. Why did he not remember his sibling? Did he or she die before he was hatched? The whole idea both perplexed and disturbed him. He had thought his parents invincible, and able to protect anyone they wished from harm. Yet they could not protect one of their own children from whatever fate had befallen it.

These thoughts put a whole new perspective on Savron's view of life. He was the son of two of the greatest heroes in all of history, and was entitled to almost anything he wished. Yet it by no means meant he was safe from the world. They constantly worried for his safety and wellbeing, trying to shield him from harm. He could finally understand why they wanted to protect him, but it did not mean they had to smother him. As he had told his father, he was not a dragonling anymore. He was fully capable of defending himself from harm… most of the time.

Savron sighed and shuffled over into a more comfortable position.

_"What would it have been like to have an older brother? Or even an older sister?"_ Savron wondered to himself as he tried to doze. _"Would he have gone on adventures with me? Or would he have oppressed me like mom and dad? Would mom and dad even be as protective if he had lived?"_

Thoughts of sibling and relatives swirled through his mind as he lay.

_"What was his name? Was it a boy or a girl? What colour was it? Was it purple like me, or something else? What happened to it?"_

The sound of his door opening tore Savron from his reverie and back to reality. The purple turned onto his side and closed his eyes, making snoring noises, believing his parents had finally returned from their meeting and were checking on him.

"I think he is asleep." A young feminine voice whispered. Savron frowned, but continued his façade. He recognized that voice.

"No, he's not. He is faking it." A deeper male voice chuckled with amusement. Savron definitely recognized that voice. Savron abandoned his act and rolled over to face the newcomers.

"How did you know Igneous? I thought I did a pretty good snore. What gave me away?" Savron laughed. The crimson fire dragon stepped into the room, followed by Tirren, Typhous and Sleet.

"You don't snore Sav. You never have." Igneous answered smirking.

"And how would you know that?" Savron asked curiously. Igneous chuckled again, shaking his ram-horned head.

"Don't you remember all those camp outs we have had in Hunter's survival classes? I have never heard you snore, not even once."

"Interesting, I will have to remember that for future deceptions." Savron laughed, and then waved for them to take a seat, throwing pillows down for them to sit on.

"So, what are you here for?"

"We wanted to see how you were doing. I haven't seen you for almost two days now." Igneous answered.

"Are you alright Sav?" Typhous asked hurriedly, as if afraid of the answer. His nervous demeanour drawing puzzled glances from everyone else in the room.

"Does it look like I'm alright? I am trapped in my room, I can't go outside, and I can't hang out with you guys. I am fan-freaking-tastic!" Savron grumbled sarcastically, and then smiled at the downcast grey.

"I am perfectly fine Typhous. Thanks by the way, for the save. I owe you one."

"Technically you already owe us one." Sleet interjected. Savron gave the small ice dragon a disgusted look.

"Alright! Alright! I owe you **two**. There happy?"

Typhous sighed with relief. "I was just worried I had hurt you with my wind fury."

"You missed me entirely. The only thing that was hurt was those spiders. Though I admit," Savron grinned mischievously. "I never thought you had such a strong **tailwind**. It was fairly **drafty** back there."

The joke was lost on Typhous, but the others groaned at Savron's tasteless humour. Savron laughed at their irritated expressions and sat up.

"Well, welcome to my room. You can stay as long as you like, and you Tirren," Savron smirked, winking at the earth dragoness. "are welcome anytime."

Tirren rolled her eyes.

"It's good to see you are your old self again. How have you been doing, trapped up here in your room by the way?"

"Well, I am laying here, trying to sleep, bored out of my mind. A ton of homework lying beside me, taunting me. The usual grounding really." Savron said flippantly. Igneous eyed the stack of paper and texts appraisingly.

"I can see that."

They fell into an awkward silence for a moment. No one quite sure what to say next. Savron was the first to speak, his face sombre.

"Hey guys. What is it like to have siblings? You know, brothers and sisters?"

The four looked at each other confused at his question.

"Well," Sleet began, speaking quietly as if unsure of what to say. "They are as much of an annoyance as an asset really. Sometimes they bug you, taunt you and are general bullies. But simultaneously, they can support you, care for you and protect you."

Savron was listening intently, his green eyes glimmering with curiosity.

"I agree Sleet. They love you, and they can guide you through tough times in your life. And they will come to your aid when you are in trouble. But they can also be a pain in the rump." Tirren nodded in conformation, giving the scrawny ice dragon a smile.

"But it goes both ways." Igneous supplied. "You have to care for them as well. You have to protect your sibling and guide them when they need help. You have to support them as much as they support you."

"Well I would know none of this; I have no brothers or sisters." Typhous added blandly.

"Why do you ask Sav? Your mom and dad thinking of having another kid? I would have thought they'd know better after having you." Tirren joked. Savron laughed, and his friends joined in.

"I don't think so. If they are, they have not told me yet." Savron's laughter died away. The room once more fell into an awkward silence. This time, it was an annoying buzzing sound that broke the silence. Everyone looked up to see Sparx flying over their heads, creating the shrill buzz through pursed lips.

"Attention! Visiting hours are over! All excess dragons must vacate the premise!" The small dragonfly buzzed up into Igneous's face and shooed him away. The speck of glowing light herded the four dragons out of the room, threatening to continue the shrill whistle if they did not leave immediately.

"See you later Sav!" Igneous shouted over Sparx's obnoxious yelling.

"Yah, I would like it if you visited tomorrow! I have nothing better to do!" Savron shouted back, smirking as the diminutive dragonfly forced his friends out the door. When the four dragons finally disappeared, driven away by the persistent buzzing of the dragonfly, Savron lay back down.

_"So, a sibling is supportive, kind and gentle. But also an annoying bully... sounds like I could have come to enjoy having a brother or sister."_ Savron sighed, and then rolled over on his bed, sifting comfortably on the soft cushions.

"I will have to ask mom about what happened to my older sibling later…." Savron yawned. Then he closed his eyes.

Sparx peeked back through the open door of the young purples room, ready to tell the young dragon to get some sleep. But the small glowing dragonfly could only smile when he saw Savron sprawled on his bed, already sound asleep.

* * *

Far away in the valley of Avalar, a small train chugged through the vibrant forest. It followed the track that meandered through the woods, trailing thick black smoke in its wake. The valley was largely unchanged from the cataclysm that had torn the world asunder nearly twenty three years ago. The fast flowing river was still fed by several waterfalls, and the trees still stood strong, their leaves emerging from the buds that held them. The world was blooming with colours, the green of plant life, and the rainbow of flowers.

The only true change was the cheetah settlement. The small, ramshackle village had evolved into a bustling metropolis, boasting a huge population of felines. Prowlus, the chieftain of the small settlement, had gathered the many clans of felines that had wandered the realm of Avalar. There they had begun the construction of the great city. No longer fearing the wrath of Malefor, the settlement grew and prospered.

When the call for a feline king to join the growing council of kings at Warfang had arrived at Avalar, Prowlus was quickly elected. The former chieftain took his promotion in stride, but was reluctant to leave his valley for the great city. He departed the valley with the promise to return often to see his old home. The new feline king kept his promise and returned home every other month.

The train however, passed the city by, its destination elsewhere. Lyrith watched the passage of the metropolis with awe. He had never left Warfang in all of his seventeen years of life; the farthest he had ever been was the lake by the great capital of the realms. The sight of another such city was astounding to him.

Inferna watched the Albino with interest, noting his reaction to the sights of the world outside Warfang. She lay on a bed of pillows, before her, Lyr's six books rested in a neat row. She had taken them out to examine Lyrith's level of reading, and to her surprise, found three of the books to be text books. One was a book of history, detailing the known history of dragons and important events that had occurred in the past. The second was a survival guide, describing all manner of important tips for surviving in every manner of environment. It also listed easy to make recipes and bandaging techniques, these pages were worn and heavily dog-eared. The third, and most surprising of all of Lyrith's book choices, was a beginner's guide to magic. It outlined the basics of all form of magic, from elemental, to fairy, to spellcraft.

_"Obviously,"_ Inferna thought as she flipped through the text. _"Lyrith's lack of magical power has made magic a subject of interest for him."_

"Inferna, why exactly are we taking a train to the Temple? Couldn't we just fly there?" Lyrith asked suddenly, turning to face his mentor.

"Well, we could fly. But then we would have to leave all of your belongings behind. But I also wish to teach you a little before we get to the Temple. And it is easier to do that on a train than while flying."

Lyrith nodded his understanding, and a spark of eager anticipation flickered to life in his red eyes.

"You're going to teach me? Great! When do we start?"

"In a moment. First, I want you to tell me what this is." Inferna held up a sheet of paper she had taken from one of the texts. The crumpled white page was written on with a messy script that was barely legible. Lyrith suddenly flushed.

"Oh. That… That is… Um… It's a test I wrote."

"But did you not say that you never went to school?" Inferna pointed out accusingly. Lyrith's flush deepened a little more. The Fire Guardian had found many such 'tests' in his text books. His reaction had her curiosity peaked.

"Well… I didn't. I was rejected from every one I tried to enter."

Inferna waited patiently for the white dragon to continue. Lyrith seemed unwilling to finish his story. Finally he huffed in exasperation when Inferna showed no signs of losing interest.

"Fine! I got sick of being rejected, so I snuck up into a tree during some classes and watched. The windows were often open so I got the general idea of the lesson. I learned, copied tests when I could and did problems from those texts. There! Happy!" Lyrith turned away from Inferna angrily and stalked off to the opposite corner of the train, muttering. Inferna examined the test. After much looking she found the mark Lyrith had given himself on the test. It was an eight out of ten. A quick check of his questions and answers showed the mark to be correct. She examined the rest of the tests. All had similar marks.

_"I knew it! I knew he was a smart one!"_ Inferna grinned triumphantly, putting the tests back in the text books.

"When will we get to the Temple?" Lyrith demanded from across the room.

"In about a week. We are taking some detours to lengthen your training period. I have already sent word ahead. A letter will arrive at the Temple by tomorrow. But until then, I will help you catch up to the other students, sound fair?"

Lyrith's sullen expression vanished, replaced by intrigue. The Albino returned to sit in front of Inferna, his haunches resting on a soft cushion. The Guardian of Flame pushed Lyr's text books to one side, and then pulled out several sheets of paper, a quill and an ink well.

The papers were written on with a neat hand on both sides, the letters crisp and clear. Blank spaces separated each question, and allowed for a place for Lyr to write on.

"What is this?" Lyrith asked, picking up the sheets.

"It is your first real test. I just want to know what you know. So I can judge were to start your education. Answer as many questions as you can, and if you don't know what the answer is, leave it blank."

Lyrith eagerly took up the quill in his paws and began scribbling. His scarred face screwed up in a look of intense concentration, the tip of his pink tongue poking out from between his fangs. Despite his efforts his scrawl came out messy and all but unreadable. Inferna could see countless spelling errors and grammar mistakes that would make a coyote raider blush.

It took Lyrith close to an hour to complete the test. Answering each question to the best of his ability. After looking through his test, one final time to make sure it was to his satisfaction, he presented the test to Inferna proudly.

The Fire Guardian took the test hesitantly, and then began reading. It took her well over half an hour to decipher his scribbles, and by the end she felt a head ache building up. Lyr had mangled the written language to the point of insanity. It was like trying to read an encrypted code, written by a blind Ape.

"How did I do?" Lyr asked nervously when Inferna finally put down the test. She rubbed her eyes with her paws and then looked the Albino in the eyes.

"Well. I know what I have to teach you first." Inferna sighed. Lyrith felt his excitement build to a crescendo. Would he learn how to do maths? Maybe about the history of his race? Or even something about magic.

"Your writing. You cannot get anything done if you don't have writing straight. For instance, did you write: 'this peach is mangling our chess set,' or 'the queen is sprinkling her tulips' in question three?"

All the enthusiasm left Lyr in an instant, a small 'Oh' leaving his muzzle. Inferna felt a little bad for pulling the plug on her student's enthusiasm, but not enough to excuse the pain in her skull from trying to read the test.

"Now Lyr, I understand you have not gotten a proper education. But no one will respect you; no matter how smart you are, if you cannot write. None of the teachers will take you seriously if they can't read what you are writing. Out of all the lessons I will teach you, this one is essential for you to learn."

Lyrith nodded in understanding, still saddened by her blatant dismissal of his attempt.

"Now then, sit with me and I will show you how to write neater. That is the first step. Now move with slow, deliberate strokes like this…" Inferna instructed, taking up a quill and starting to write on the page. Lyrith dutifully followed her lead. He soon became engrossed in his work, letting the quill flow across his page, leaving a trail of black ink in the wake of his quill, forming letters and then words.

The two wrote on into the night. Inferna, showing the white tricks and techniques to improve his penmanship. And gradually, the night wore on, all the while the train chugged its way through forests and valleys. Across mountains and cliffs, to its final destination, the Dragon Temple.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith

Savron

Igneous

Tirren

Inferna

Sleet

Typhous

Twar

Torch

Wintra

Thunder

Zindy

Danrah

Vash

Yet another chapter that looked boring in context, but was more entertaining on paper. Regret felt like a filler chapter at first, but a closer inspection revealed either wise. An important plot point is revealed, another mystery to be solved, and some character development to enjoy.

And for those of you wondering how Spyro and Cynder help each other sleep, they play poker. Seriously! It helps them sleep! I don't see what else they could be doing in the middle of the night, bored, with no one around to judge them... Unless it's to play snakes and ladders, but that's just nasty.

Edit: Not really all that much to say here. Though, I will admit that reading back on these is a helpful reminder of some of the character quirks that the other characters had, that I've partially forgotten about. Going to need to remember these if I want to use them again. xD


	9. First Impressions

Chapter 9. First Impressions

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple, or any other character or place that belongs to the Spyro franchise. (Insert random joke here). However, several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below. _

With a roar the young yellow dragon sent a storm of lightning arcs into the attacking horde of animated straw dummies. Most of the bolts went wild, missing their marks, but more than enough struck true. The bolts carved through the straw and wood, tearing the mannequins to ribbons, and leaving them smoking on the ground.

Spyro shook his head in when the young dragon collapsed to the ground panting.

"No, you are still using too much energy! Three or four well aimed arcs are enough to take down those dummies. Try again, and this time focus!"

The practice dummies suddenly repaired themselves, their mangled bodies fitting back together flawlessly. Spyro paced around the practice ring as the lightning dragon stood and tried again, with marginally better success. From the bleachers by the training ring the other students watched, exhausted from their own training session.

When Spyro had decided to become a teacher at the Temple, he had found that he was the perfect fit for basic combat training. Being a purple, Spyro could wield any element he was taught, even most Sub-Elements. This perk allowed him to teach any student, regardless of colour, both magical and physical combat. Spyro found it immensely satisfying to watch an untrained student evolve into a warrior. And always felt a measure of pride when one was accepted for advanced lessons by one of the Guardians.

The student in the ring now was an excellent melee fighter, but always used too much energy in his magical attacks; he was practically comatose by the end of each lesson. Spyro clucked in disappointment when the dragon wasted as much energy as he had on the previous attempt.

"Clearly this exercise is not working." Spyro sighed, and the yellow stuttered an apology.

"S-Sorry, I will try harder this time."

But Spyro shook his head. "It is obvious I have to take extreme measures to teach you control…"

The young dragon swallowed nervously, and Spyro hid his grin as he stalked over to the other side of the room and picked up four melons. The rest of the class, who had been waiting bored for the class to end, perked up in interest as Spyro strode into the center of the ring and stood on his hind legs.

"Here is your next exercise. When you are ready, I will throw these melons into the air and you will destroy them with your lightning arcs."

The student opened his muzzle to tell Spyro he was ready, But Spyro held up a paw to silence him.

"There is more. For each melon that hits the ground, you receive a remedial lesson. For every arc over four used, you receive a remedial lesson…"

The class chuckled at the young dragon's expression as he realised how difficult the exercise would be.

"… and if you hit me, everyone receives detention."

The class burst into an angry mutter, causing the young dragon to swallow hard.

"But there is an upside." Spyro clarified, soothingly. "If you destroy all four melons with four arcs, this class ends early, if you destroy them all with three arcs, next class ends early as well. And if you can destroy all four with only two arcs, I will cancel tomorrow's class altogether."

The class's angry grumbling turned into excited whispers, and they began to shout encouragement at the yellow dragon. The student blushed at the attention, but Spyro could see the determination in his eyes.

"So, when you are ready, give me the word and this exercise will commence."

The young dragon nodded and took a deep breath to steady himself.

"I'm ready."

Spyro threw the melons into the air, two at a time. The yellow lightning dragon spat a bolt of electrical energy at two of the melons, twisting his head to elongate the bolt. They exploded in a spray of juice. He fired a second bolt at the remaining two melons, but he aimed too high and the attack missed its mark. He panicked as they began their descent. He fired off two quick blasts at the melons and they exploded, showering Spyro with juice. The purple sighed as the class exploded in cheers and laughter, but he could only smile at the young dragon's smug smile.

"Good work. As I told you, it is all a matter of concentration. Class dismissed!"

The class crowded around the young dragon, praising him on his attempt, they led him out of the room, patting him on the back enthusiastically.

"It is always nice to see them grow up."

Spyro glanced up to see Darius enter the room just as the last of the students left. The purple dragon grinned.

"Yeah, there is nothing like it. So, what are you here for Darius?"

The emaciated sand dragon chuckled. Darius had two long horns that both curled back, and his eyes were so dark they were almost black.

"I have something to show you." Darius whispered sneakily, even though Spyro was the only one within earshot. He slipped an envelope from his satchel and showed it to Spyro. The purple took the letter and examined it. He felt his jaw fall open as he saw the seal.

"Is this…" Spyro murmured, and Darius nodded excitedly.

"Yes! It is a letter from Inferna!"

"What does it say?" Spyro inquired with equal enthusiasm.

"I haven't read it yet. I figured we should wait until tonight's meeting."

Spyro gave a thoughtful nod. "We wouldn't want to cut them out of the dramatic opening, now would we?" The two gave each other playful grins.

"It is going to be so hard to not open this letter until then." Darius complained, as he took the letter back and slipped it back into the satchel.

"Then why don't you give it to me, I will keep it safe." Spyro requested slyly. Darius shook his head.

"No way, you are even more impatient to learn the outcome of Inferna's search than I am. Why, if you were the one to get the letter, you would not have waited to open it."

Spyro sighed. "I suppose that's true. Fine you keep it for now. We will open it at the meeting."

They smiled at each other mischievously, and then they left the room for an early lunch.

* * *

"… and that is why we should have Ember's meatloaf at every meeting." Cyril finished and sat down. The rest of the staff gave a round of applause and cheered around mouthfuls of meatloaf. Flame laughed and clapped Cyril on the back.

"Ember will be pleased to hear you speak so highly of her new recipe, but less pleased when she realises how much meatloaf she will have to cook now."

Cyril sighed dramatically. "I can bear the pain of her nagging if it brings more of this heavenly dish to my plate."

"I thank you Cyril for your outstanding speech. I will definitely consider your proposal. With Ember's permission of course." Terrador rumbled. He nodded towards Flame. "Would you kindly ask her for me?"

"Coward." Flame grumbled but nodded in consent. The staff settled down quickly, finishing up the samples Cyril had brought. This time it was Darius who stood up.

"My friends, I have something exciting to show you. I was busy picking up a package for storage in the library when a messenger caught my attention. She gave me this and bade me to deliver it to the staff of the Temple." Darius picked a sealed envelope and passed it to Terrador. "I have not opened it yet as I felt we should all hear its contents together."

Terrador took the letter and glanced at the seal. His eyes widened.

"A letter from Inferna!" He exclaimed. The effect on the rest of the staff was immediate.

"What doesth it thay?"

"Hurry open it, I need to know what is inside!"

"About bloody time."

"Alright! Lazy Flame sent a letter!"

Terrador glanced around the room, amused at the reactions. Cyril leaned forward and plucked the letter from Terrador's paws.

"Allow me to do the honours. After all, a dragon of my heritage is a perfect choice to announce what is inside."

"Give me that!" Terrador hissed snatching the letter back from Cyril. "You don't go around snatching thing from others' paws!"

Cyril scowled at Terrador as he cleared his throat and opened the letter, slicing the seal off with a claw. The Earth Guardian cleared his throat again and started reading.

_Dear Guardians and members of staff._

_It has been a long time since I have last written to you, and I know you have missed me greatly. But you can rejoice! I have succumbed to my home sickness and am on my way back even as I write this letter. And my search has not been in vain! I am brining a student with me; we will arrive in eight days' time from the day I have written this letter. So please bear with my absence a little longer. I look forward to seeing you all again, and I expect a proper reception for me and my student._

_I miss you all dearly,_

_Inferna_

The room exploded when Terrador finished the letter. Spyro, Darius and Volteer cheered at the news. Flame and Serion clapped paws and Hunter smiled victoriously, crossing his arms. The rest of the staff groaned in disappointment at the news.

"We win! We win!" Darius cheered bouncing up and down childishly.

"We will be taking our winnings now." Serion smirked, but was silence by a snarl.

"Wait a minute." Cadence growled, the rotund wind dragon swiped the letter from Terrador's paws and read through it. An evil smile played across his features as he read, and Spyro felt the pit of his stomach drop.

"If I remember correctly, the bet required a student to be a prodigy in order for your outcome to be considered true." Cadence hissed. "It only says here that she is bringing a student, she never specifies the student is a prodigy."

The six who had been so recently celebrating their victory, glanced at each other nervously.

"Well, it is only natural that she would not say so," Spyro muttered. "It is sort of implied."

But those who had 'lost' their bets were nodding in agreement with Cadence, seeing a way out of losing their belongings.

"Why would Inferna return with a less than capable student?" Hunter inquired, trying to turn the tables back into their favour. "She has been searching for half a year?"

"Until we see the student ourselves we cannot make any assumptions." Cyril declared. Spyro glanced at Cynder for support, but she only shrugged sympathetically.

"I am sorry Spyro, but the bet was for a prodigy, not just any dragon. We have to examine the student ourselves before we decide."

"Then what will happen if the student is not a prodigy?" Serion asked Cynder. "You are the one who started the bet, what say you?"

"I suppose the bet will be cancelled and everyone's belongings returned to them." Cynder responded. The six former victors slumped in defeat.

"Fine," Darius grumbled. "According to the date on the letter it was written two days ago, so she will arrive in six days' time. We will wait until then, and then we will test our new student."

The staff sat back down, pleased that the bet would be resolved soon. Cynder scooted up to Spyro and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I am sorry I could not support you. But it was true."

"I know." Spyro sighed. But then he brightened. "Not like it matters, Inferna wouldn't bring a student who was not talented after so long searching. Cadence and the others are only delaying the inevitable."

"And then you will get your share." Cynder smirked.

"And my sculpture." Spyro added, and Cynder pouted.

"I had hoped you had forgotten." She mumbled. Spyro shook his head.

"About that statuette, no way."

"Fine, but if you win, make sure to get my jewellery back, I would like to have it back."

* * *

"This is ridiculous!" Lyrith complained as the moles waxed his scales.

One of the mole engineers had just informed them that they would be arriving at the Temple within the hour. Inferna had taken one look at Lyrith's dirty scales and scruffy appearance and had demanded he take a bath. Lyrith had bathed without complaint in one of the train's small tubs, but when he had seen the moles enter with polishing wax, he had resisted their attempts to polish his scales. He had remained adamant until Inferna had told him he would either have his scales polished, or she would make him wear an entire wardrobe of accessories of her choice.

"It is not ridiculous." Inferna replied. "If you won't wear the appropriate clothing for the occasion, then you must at least make your scales presentable."

Lyrith hissed at a mole who had started waxing uncomfortably close to his rump. The mole backed off, and then started again on his flank.

"Who waxes their scales anyways? I mean, don't our scales shine enough without having to polish them?" Lyrith grumbled when the moles finished.

"Nobles polish their scales all the time." Inferna answered, the moles moved over and set to work on her scales.

"Nobles are stupid and their habits redundant." Lyr snarled bitterly, taking a seat on one of the cushion beds around the room. Inferna only chuckled as she allowed the moles to wax her scales. They scurried out of the room as soon as they were finished, leaving the two alone. Inferna roamed over to Lyrith, checking to see if all of their belongings were packed away before she sat down beside Lyr.

The Albino looked up at the Fire Guardian; he had to admit that she did look stunning. Her scales shone like actual flames, and her polished horns were decorated with dozens of tiny bells. She turned to look down at him, and smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Lyr snapped; still frustrated that she made him wax his scales.

"You actually look rather regal. The shiny scales, the haughty annoyed expression…"

Lyrith frowned and got up. He strutted over to the mirror and looked at himself. He could hardly recognize the dragon standing before him. His scales, once snow white were now more like polished ivory. The scars on his body were still visible, but their harsh lines were softened somewhat. The silver and opal pendant that hung around his neck gleamed dully, and matched the silvery grey of his eight notched horns. His blood red eyes stood out in sharp contrast with the near colourlessness of the rest of his body.

"You could almost pass for a noble." Inferna commented as she walked up beside him. "Just work on your stance a bit and no one would ever know you were born in the slums."

"What's wrong with my stance?" Lyrith asked bemused, glancing back at Inferna.

"You slouch a lot, and you move as if you are trying to avoid attention. A noble walks with pride and always stands up straight. Like so." Inferna took on a posture, stiffening her back and neck, and looking down her muzzle at the white. Lyrith snickered.

"What is so funny?" Inferna demanded haughtily, keeping her pose in place.

"Do you get dizzy from the thin air with your head so high in the clouds, your highness?" Lyrith mocked a bow and Inferna cracked a smile.

A short mole wearing blue overalls and a striped blue and white hat stepped into the room.

"We have arrived at the Temple, Lady Inferna." The mole bowed formally to the Guardian and to Lyrith. Lyr suddenly realised that the train had slowed and was coming to a stop. He raced over to the window and the sight took his breath away.

The Dragon Temple rose above them like a mountain. Perched on top of a tall plateau and surrounded by the mushroom forest it sat, regal and powerful. Its white spires seemed to touch the clouds and it was surrounded by white stone walls as high as the hill it sat on.

"Come now Lyrith, you can gawk later. Get your belongings together, we have a reception to meet."

* * *

A huge crowd bustled about in the great hall. Every student and member of staff had been gathered in the central chamber in order to welcome the returning Fire Guardian back home. Rumours had started spreading of a new student among the student body not long after the letter announcing Inferna's return arrived. For days the students of the Temple had speculated on the new student, trying to guess what colour or gender she would be bringing back with her. Several students, seeing an opportunity to make a profit had set up a betting poll. There students could bet on the colour, sex and even the name of the new arrival.

The crowd buzzed with conversation as everyone waited with baited breath for the Fire Guardian to arrive.

Igneous sat on a balcony overlooking the great hall; sitting beside him were all of his friends, Savron, Tirren, Typhous, Zindy and Sleet. All lay on plush cushions watching the proceedings below. In the center of the great hall a grand stage had been erected, where all of the head staff sat, as fidgety as their students.

_"I guess we aren't the only ones who are anxious to meet this new student."_ Igneous mused. The great hall itself was monolithic, its ceiling easily reaching hundreds of feet into the air. Mosaics of coloured tiles whirled in patterns across the walls, painting a colossal portrait of the history of the dragon race.

"So Sav, what colour do you think the new student will be?" Sleet asked, curiously.

"Probably a fire dragon, most Guardians choose students of their own element." Savron replied blandly, but they could all see the curiosity in his eyes.

"Well I think she is bringing a purple." Tirren smirked, and Savron's expression immediately flickered from boredom to nervousness. "After all, she has been searching for so long that it could not be anything else." Tirren finished, she examined Savron's nervous expression with amusement.

"What? Are you worried you will become less popular if there is another purple in the school?" Tirren teased.

"No, I don't know what you are talking about." Savron lied smoothly, his worried demeanour changing back to boredom.

"Don't worry Sav, the odds of Inferna finding another purple are slim to none." Typhous said consolingly. "I personally believe she is bringing a Sub-Element, probably one we have never heard of before."

"Well we are about to find out." Igneous murmured. A messenger rushed into the hall and ran up to the stage. The cheetah muttered something to Terrador and then hurried away to stand by the entranceway. The crowd quieted upon seeing the messenger, everyone knew what the message was. That Inferna had entered the Temple and was on her way to the great hall now.

Beside Igneous, a tiny fire dragonling shifted, she was barely old enough to talk. Two puny horns protruded from her head, and her scales were a pinkish colour.

"Iggy, why did effwyone stowp talkwing?" She asked confused. Igneous smiled down at his little sister.

"Inferna is coming back home. Do you remember Inferna, Cirial?"

Cirial shook her head, still frowning in confusion. Igneous grinned.

"Maybe you will recognize her when you see her."

Down on the stage, Spyro fidgeted nervously. This was it, the moment when they would meet the new student Inferna had been searching so long for. The dragon who would determine if he got his sculpture or not. Around him the other members of the head staff shuffled anxiously, all hardly able to contain their excitement and curiosity. What kind of dragon did Inferna choose to be her student, what was his or her history, and what made him or her so special?

The four Guardians, Cyril, Terrador, Volteer and Cynder stood waiting to greet their fifth member back home. A fanfare from the mole trumpeters signalled the Fire Guardians return. The massive marble doors swung open and Inferna strutted through. Her flame patterned scales gleaming in the torch light. As one the crowd roared with cheers and applause, all welcoming their wandering Guardian back home.

Spyro stood and grinned at his friend's grand entrance, and then his eyes wandered to the dragon striding next to her. He felt his jaw hit the floor.

"Iggy, why is that dwagon white?" Cirial asked nudging her big brother. Igneous could only stare unbelieving at the Albino that walked beside the Fire Guardian.

"Surely this is a joke." Typhous chuckled weakly, as he looked down at the white. "She can't have seriously chosen an Albino after half a year of searching?"

The crowd had fallen deathly silent when they had finally caught sight of the white, all staring in disbelief. Inferna continued to walk dignified towards the stage, head held high as if the cheering had never stopped. The Albino however, seemed to wilt beneath the accusing stares and shocked expressions.

"Cirial, a dragon's scales are white when they have no magical power of their own." Igneous finally answered his sister's question. They watched as the white's demeanour suddenly changed. He stood up straighter, and marched beside Inferna as if daring the world to mock him.

Lyrith felt furious.

"_How dare they judge me solely on my colour! I will show them. I will prove to them I am as worthy as they are to study here!" _Lyr promised silently. He glanced up at the stage and his eyes fixed on the purple scales of Spyro, who watched Lyrith with a mixture of shock and disappointment. The great hero was everything Lyr had imagined him to be. Enormous and powerfully built, his golden horns and underbelly shone like the sun. His body was scarred from the many battles he had fought in.

"_So that is the dragon of legend. The purple who slew Malefor and saved the world from annihilation."_

Torch watched the from the balcony across from Igneous, his jaw clenched shut as he saw the Albino take the stage with the Guardian of Flames.

"_How… How dare she!"_ Torch raged, feeling the need to hit something. _"How dare she insult me like this! Me! She dare clump me together with this __**lizard**__! She sees this freak as worthy as I to study here at the Temple?"_

Torch watched as Inferna began to address the crowd. He could not accept this insult. Torch stood and stormed from the room, Voltlyn and Wintra, who had been sitting beside him, quickly got to their paws and followed him out of the room.

"I thank you all for your warm welcome!" Inferna announced over the silent crowd. "I know I have been gone for a long time, and you must have missed me terribly! But know that I have finally decided to settle down here at the Temple, at least for a time!"

Inferna chuckled, pretending not to notice that no one was paying her any attention. "As I am sure you have all noticed, I have brought a new student with me, his name is Lyrith. He will be studying with you from now on. I hope you will treat him with the same respect you treat everyone else in the Temple…"

"That Albino is a guy!" Savron laughed, staring hard at Lyrith. "I could hardly tell from up here!" Savron's friends snorted in amusement. The purple was right. The white did look a bit like a female from where they sat.

"…He will be starting classes with you tomorrow, but today, he will explore the Temple to get his bearings. Now thank you once again for your enthusiastic welcome. Go and enjoy the rest of your day."

Inferna led Lyrith over to the head staff as the crowd reluctantly left, everyone casting Lyr second glances. One by one, Inferna introduced Lyr to the staff. The white shook each of their paws in turn. Terrador gripped Lyr's small paw in a vice, and gazed into his eyes. The Earth Guardian saw Lyrith's anger, but also his determination. And there was something else, a hard edge in the white's eyes, something that did not belong in a dragon so young. Lyr in turn, saw the Guardian's strength, and wisdom that came with decades of life.

Cyril greeted him icily, glaring at Inferna as he shook Lyr's paw. Volteer was enthusiastic, asking Lyrith a multitude of questions the white had no idea how to answer. Inferna saved Lyr by shoving him over to Cadence. Any warmth he had felt at Volteer's excited welcome dissipated under Cadence's glare. The pudgy wind dragon stared at Lyrith with undisguised hostility. His one eye burning a hole through Lyrith. Lyr held out a shaky paw, but Cadence did not take the offer. He just continued to stare at Lyr hatefully.

"It is good to see you to Caddie." Inferna chuckled too cheerfully as she ushered Lyrith onward. Behind them Cadence snarled angrily at Inferna.

Finally Lyrith found himself standing before Spyro. Lyrith swallowed hard as he gazed up at the purple dragon. Beside Spyro, Cynder sat, both looked down at Lyrith with interest, but he could see a hint of disappointment still tinting their gazes.

Spyro held out a paw and Lyrith stared at it. He was standing in front of **Spyro**! The Guardians themselves were heroes but nothing compared to Spyro and Cynder. Lyrith abruptly realised Spyro was waiting for him to respond and Lyrith took the offered paw. Spyro's grip was firm but gentle and the purple smiled down at Lyr.

"Welcome to the Temple, we expect much from you Lyrith."

Lyrith nodded stupidly, unable to think of anything to say to his hero before he moved on to Cynder. Her grip was gentle and warm, she also smiled down at him, albiet with even more warmth.

"You'll love it here Lyrith. It just takes a little getting used to everything." She murmured. Lyr smiled back meekly.

"Thanks." He whispered, which was all he could think of saying. The rest of the staff greeted Lyrith half-heartedly, some even as coldly as Cyril. But Lyr did not care, he had met Spyro and Cynder, and they had treated him like a real dragon. His heroes were as kind as the stories spoke of.

When Lyr had shaken the paw of the last dragon in the line of staff, Serion, Inferna took him on a tour of the Temple. Everything he saw amazed and astounded him. From the gardens, to the murals. It was growing dark by the time the Fire Guardian showed him to his room.

"Here it is. This is where you will be living while you stay at the Temple. It is almost suppertime, so when you are done unpacking go down that hallway, and it leads you to the student kitchens. I will leave you now, as I have pressing matters to attend to elsewhere." Inferna glided down the hall and out of sight. Lyrith opened the door and gasped in astonishment at the sight before him.

The room was three, maybe four times the size of his room at the orphanage. A desk sat to one side of the door, it was a dark hardwood desk, engraved with intricate patterns. A heap of plush blue cushions were piled neatly in one corner of the room. Several bookshelves stacked with a several dozen books stood along the left wall, opposite the desk. The floor was carpeted in a thick rug of blue and green. Directly across from the door, a huge curtained window stood out on the wall, displaying the sunset country side in all of its glory.

Lyrith walked in with trepidation, looking around the room with wonder. The door behind him swung shut and he caught sight of his belongings piled neatly by the door. He wasted no time in exploring his new room. He padded over to the desk and opened the drawers, inside stacks of loose paper were stored. As well as many bottles of ink and dozens of quills. Lyrith walked back over to his stuff and rummaged around until he pulled out the journal he had gotten as a hatchday present from Ireeca. He had written in it diligently since he had gotten it, writing about his day, what he had learned and his opinions on important matters. Lyrith brought the journal back to the desk and slipped it into an empty drawer.

He then went over and examined the bookshelves. Most of the books on the shelves were text books or classic novels from before the wars. But one new book in particular caught his eye. It was titled _The Darkest Hour_. It was a famous novel detailing Spyro and Cynder's adventure, from Spyro living with his Dragonfly parents, to the defeat of the Dark Master. Lyrith had never read it himself, but made a mental note to do so as soon as possible.

The closets were empty, except for a soft blanket, which Lyr picked up hesitantly. He did not like blankets, ever since an incident in his childhood where he nearly suffocated in one… twelve times. Lyr put the blanket back and hastily closed the closet.

The blue pillows were next. Lyr picked one off the pile and experimentally lay down on it. It was luxuriously soft, yet firm enough to support him. Compared to his stiff old pillows, these were heaven.

A bell tolled and Lyrith abruptly remembered that dinner was to be served soon. Deciding to leave unpacking for later, Lyr left his room and went down the corridor that led to the student kitchen. He followed the twisting hall until he found himself in a well lit room.

The students who had been eating and talking boisterously fell silent as Lyrith stepped into the kitchen. The Albino paused for a moment at the entrance, before making his way to the buffet. Conscious that everyone's eyes were on him, Lyrith started to pick out his meal. He took only a few slices of meat from the enormous selection before leaving the buffet. He walked over to the cook, a bright pink coloured dragoness, who smiled at him as he approached.

"Well aren't you just a darling! I am Ember. So you are our new student?"

"Uh, yeah. My name is Lyrith…" Lyr hesitated uncertainly, embarrassed at her motherly welcome. "Um, could I have some jam?"

"Jam?" She asked, not sure she heard him right.

"Yes, jam. Could I have some...? Please?"

The watching students muttered amongst themselves, bewildered.

"Well, I will see what I can do." Ember murmured dubiously. She wandered over into the other room. Lyr sat on his haunches and waited, placing his plate of food on a nearby table. Ember returned a few minutes later with a small bowl held in one paw.

"Here you go." She said, giving Lyr the bowl of jam. "We normally serve this to our servants at breakfast but…"

Lyrith nodded his thanks to the pink dragon, and then paced off with his dinner, looking for an empty seat. He found an empty table in one corner of the kitchen and sat down, placing his meal on the table. Everyone's eyes followed him as he took a seat.

Savron, Sleet, Igneous, Tirren, Typhous and Zindy watched him as he started eating, blatantly ignoring the other students.

"He asked… for jam?" Savron laughed incredulously, shaking his head. "That's kind of disgusting." Around him his friends chuckled.

"Uhohherecomestrouble." Zindy whispered pointing to two dragons that had just left their table and were now strutted over to Lyrith. Both were earth dragons of herculean build with mottled green and brown scales. Both sported identical horns, two each that drove forward like spikes over their eyes.

"Crap." Tirren groaned, slapping a paw to her eyes in a gesture of frustration. "Out of all of Torch's gang to decide and confront the new guy, it had to be the twins… This is not going to end well."

Lyrith was halfway through a steak of peppery pork when the twins stopped in front of Lyr, standing on the other side of the table. They stood waiting for Lyrith to acknowledge their presence. After a full minute Lyrith glanced up at them and put the remains of his pork down.

"What do you want?" The white asked, bored. One of the twins sneered cruelly, feeling a muscle by his eye twitch.

"Well look who finally noticed us. What are you? Blind, stupid **and** powerless?"

Lyrith did not even flinch at the insult. He allowed his gaze to wander back to his meal, and picked up a leg of chicken.

"Sorry, my food was so much more interesting then you two, you kind of just blended in with the background." Lyrith waved the leg of poultry at them absently, before taking a bite. "Well, who are you and what are you here for?"

The twins ground their fangs in rage; it was the second of the twins that spoke.

"My name is Granite, and this is my brother, Droth. You would do well to remember our names, squirt." Granite growled.

"We came here to tell you, that you are not welcome here, Milky." Droth sneered, the two started to move around the table. The students watched the scene with interest, all waiting to see what happened next.

"An Albino like you barely deserves to serve here, let alone study. Your presence is an insult to every **real** dragon here. You very existence here at the Temple implies we are no better than you." Granite snarled, barring his fangs menacingly. Lyrith watched them impassively as they flanked him, both towering over the small white.

"But if you happen to decide to serve us and the rest of Torch's gang, we just might overlook that insult. So what do you say, Snowy?" Droth finished with a scornful smirk.

Lyrith paused and seemed to consider their offer, tapping a claw on the table top. Then he gestured to his plate.

"Do you want some of my food?" He asked. Droth and his brother grinned, smug that they had so easily cowed the Albino.

"No thanks, I don't eat sludge."

"I insist." Lyrith hissed. His paw shot out, and gripping one of Droth's horns drove the bullies face into the plate of food. The platter shattered from the impact and Droth reared onto his hind legs howling in pain, then toppled to the floor. Granite roared in fury and swung a huge paw at Lyr. The white nimbly evaded the blow and wrapped his tail around the other dragon's leg and gave it a hard yank. The sudden movement pulled the earth dragon off balance long enough for Lyrith to close the distance and smash his forehead into Granite's face. Lyrith's natural head plate of scales absorbed most of the impact, but earth dragon bully did not have that luxury. Granite stumbled backwards, teetered and finally fell to the ground in a daze.

The room stared at Lyrith in shock. The battle had happened so fast that they barely had time to register it had begun. Ember stood on the other side of the room, her jaw slack with disbelief.

Lyrith snorted in contempt at the two semi-conscious dragons who lay at his paws.

"You call yourselves real dragons? Pathetic. You didn't even land a claw on me." Lyr glanced over at his dinner which was splattered all over his table and Droth's face. Lyr sighed.

"And my dinner is ruined! I hadn't even started on my jam yet! Oh well, I wasn't really hungry anyways." Lyrith turned and stalked out of the room, leaving his broken plate, the beaten twins and the silent crowd behind.

Sleet cowered behind Savron as the Albino left. No one moved, too stunned to utter a sound.

"What… What happened?" Tirren asked finally, in a breathless whisper.

"I'm not entirely sure." Igneous whispered back in response.

"There is one thing for certain." Sleet whimpered from behind Savron, drawing his friends' gaze. Sleet swallowed hard.

"That guy… is **really** scary."

* * *

Shouting could be heard from the council chamber as Inferna stormed down the hall towards the yelling. She has finally allowed her anger to show. It had been smoldering since she had witnessed the dismal welcome they had given her and Lyrith. She had anticipated the students reaction, their students had almost developed a society of their own, and newcomers were generally regarded with suspicion at first. An Albino joining their ranks would likely be met with hostility, possibly even violence. She had not however, expected her peers to show such anger, some even disgust at her choice.

As she got closer to the council chamber, the shouting became understandable.

"…An Albino! I absolutely refuse to accept an Albino could have any skill at all!" A harsh voice sounded, presumably Cadence.

"Just because he is colourless does not mean he has no capability. Lack of magical powers has no effect on the other functions of the body." Darius snapped, his statement only causing more shouting.

"Look at Aiel and Twar! They are useless! Twar is always breaking things and Aiel is so meek that you could stew his paws and he would thank you for it! They are stupid and cowardly and both are Albinos! How do you expect…"

"Whatmyservantscanandcannotdo isnoneofyourconcern, Cadence."Volteer blurted in the middle of Cadences rant, and then in a less rushed voice. "They are capable and exuberant servants and have shown a talent in music. Despite the lack of elemental powers there is very little difference between them and normal dragons. I personally find them fascinating, remarkable delightful and…"

"They may be similar Volteer, but they are still less than dragon. I only shudder to think I may have had an Albino in my family tree!" Cyril declared. Inferna reached the entrance to the council hall and peeked through the open door. Around the circular table, two dozen dragons were arguing bitterly over Lyrith. Most seemed to be against Lyr for reasons Inferna could not yet fathom, however, some had rallied to the white's defence. Namely Spyro, Volteer, Darius, a few other dragons, and the few non-dragons.

"He seems like a good dragon, and considerably stronger than Aiel or Twar. Besides, did you see the scars on him?" Spyro asked the assembly.

"A dragon with that many scars just shows what a terrible fighter he must be." Cadence huffed.

"Do you mean like you, Sour Grape?" Serion chuckled. Cadence grimaced at him; he looked like he had just eaten a very sour fruit. Serion laughed even harder.

"Thcars, mean nothhhing." A small chubby red dragoness lisped. "Pythhical apperanth doeth not mean he ith not thmart. Inferna chothe him, he mutht be thmart."

"The bet says he must be a prodigy, and to be a prodigy a dragon must have exceptional magical potential, intelligence, and strength. An Albino lacks one if not more of these attributes so…" Cadence never finished as Inferna stepped into the room, her voice edged like chill steel.

"So that is the reason so many of you were so cold to Lyrith. You had a bet on him. I had expected more from you, all of you. Lyrith is a student here now, deal with it. You will treat him like all of the other students here, with respect."

The room fell silent at her words. Many looked shame faced, realising they may have overreacted. Cadence however, was unperturbed.

"How do you think we could accept this Albino into our midst and call him one of us!"

"Cadence calm down." Cynder admonished, giving the wind dragon a disapproving glare. "I am sure Inferna had her reasons for accepting Lyrith as a student. Would you be so kind as to tell us them Inferna?"

"Yeth, I would like to know your reathoning ath well." The chubby red piped in. The rest of the staff nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Cynder, Aideen, everyone. It is only fair if I tell you. I chose him because…"

Ember burst through the door, chest heaving for breath. Everyone looked at the pink dragoness stunned. Flame stood up and moved to her to comfort her, but she waved him away as she tried to catch her breath.

"There was… a fight… in the kitchen…" Ember panted between breaths. "Granite and Droth… fought Lyrith…"

Terrador groaned and put a paw to his eyes. "Not again. How severe were his injuries?"

"Both Granite and Droth have a minor concussion, but nothing more than that." Ember replied, finally regaining her breath. The Earth Guardian blinked in surprise.

"Do you mean Granite and Droth… were beaten?"

Ember nodded. The room rippled with conversation as they digested this news.

"I have never seen a dragon move that fast before. He had both Granite and Droth on the floor in five seconds flat." Ember murmured. The buzz of conversation suddenly stopped, and as one, everyone looked to Inferna, who was chuckling.

"It is good to see Lyrith is busy trying to make friends." Inferna smiled. She looked around at her colleagues, her hazel eyes twinkling with merriment. "Well, if this does not satisfy you, test him tomorrow. If his performance is to your satisfaction, the winners take the prize, and if he is not…Well I don't know the details of this little bet. Figure it out yourselves. Regardless, Lyrith is here to stay, and you will have to learn to deal with that fact." The Fire Guardian gave Cadence a pointed look. He harrumphed and looked away.

"Well, good night, I will see you in the morning." Inferna smiled cheerfully as she turned. Then she padded out of the room and was lost from view.

Characters created by Dardarax:

Lyrith

Inferna

Cirial

Ireeca

Aiel and Twar

Savron's gang (Savron, Igneous, Sleet, Tirren, Zindy, Typhous)

Temple staff (Darius, Cadence, Aideen, Serion)

Torch's gang (Torch, Voltlyn, Wintra, Droth and Granite)

My character list is getting too long! I am going to have to section it now!

Also yay Lyrith is at the Temple! Everyone is absolutely shocked that Inferna took in an Albino! I know some of you wanted Lyr to kick some snobby butt as soon as possible, so I hope this satisfies your butt kicking needs for a while. There will be a **much** more satisfying one in a few chapters though, I assure you. ;)


	10. Measures Taken

Chapter 10. Measures Taken

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, The Temple or any other character or place that belongs to the Spyro franchise. Furthermore I would like to inform my readers that in case of a rabid lamppost attack, be sure to stuff your ears full of pudding. Also several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below. _

Lyrith snored peacefully in the faded light of his room. The light filtered through the drapes and across the wide open space of his room. He lay on his back, paws sticking up into the air, occasionally twitching. The light played across his scars, creating small slivers of shadow across his body. The room was barren, achingly empty of furnishings and personal touches. Lyrith's belongings were stashed away in the cabinets and drawers of his wardrobe and desk, the only true furniture in the room.

Inferna watched Lyrith sleep with a small smile. Her eyes locked on his muzzle, which hung open, his tongue lolling out. The Fire Guardian had snuck into Lyr's room a few minutes ago and had settled by his bed to watch him sleep. A wide grin broke over her features as Lyr shuffled in his sleep and snuggled up to the pillows of his bed, completely content to continue sleeping.

Inferna giggled. The noise apparently disturbed Lyr's rest as one of his eyes cracked opened. He stared uncomprehendingly at Inferna, who leaned closer for a better look. Lyrith gave a startled yelp, and shot out of the bed. He hit the floor with a bump and glared at Inferna.

"What the hell! Why are you in my room? How long have you been there?"

Inferna chuckled at his panicked expression and shook her horned head.

"You know, you're kind of cute when you're asleep. But then you wake up and get all grouchy. Relax."

"I'm not cute!" Lyrith growled angrily. Inferna shook her head again.

"Whatever. I came here to tell you breakfast will be starting soon, and to give you this." Inferna handed Lyrith a card. He examined it. It was a timetable of classes. He glanced up at her.

"I took the liberty of choosing your classes for you." Inferna explained. "I picked the ones I thought you would enjoy the most. Did I choose well?"

Lyrith looked down examined the card again. His day would start off with magical histories, a sports program, and math, followed by a writing course with Inferna and then lunch. After lunch he would have combat practice, dragon histories and finally a survival training program.

"They all sound really interesting." Lyrith nodded in approval.

"Excellent." Inferna grinned. "It is your first time here, and I think you may want a guide to show you around for the first couple of days. He should be here shortly."

They waited a minute and then a sharp rapping at the door drew their attention.

"Come in!" Inferna called over to the newcomer. The door swung open and a young white dragon rushed through. He stood to attention in front of Inferna.

"I'm here Lady Inferna, I am sorry I'm late!"

"You're not late. In fact, you are right on time." Inferna gave the Albino servant a comforting smile. The white relaxed in relief.

Lyrith examined the new Albino with interest. He was of stalky build, and larger than Lyr by almost a head. He lacked much of the muscled mass Lyr possessed and his white scales were more of an off-white colour than Lyrith's snow white. The other white's eyes were a pinkish red. However, the new Albino had a pair of magnificent silver horns that put Lyr's silver-grey set to shame.

"_I haven't seen another Albion since Malicina…"_ Lyrith winced at the painful memory and immediately pushed it away before he could dwell on it.

"Lyrith, this is Aiel. He will be your guide for a few days while you get used to the Temple." Inferna said, gesturing to the silver horned white.

"Nice to meet you Lyrith." Aiel chirped and lifted a paw to shake. Lyrith took Aiel's paw suspiciously and Aiel shook his paw vigorously.

"Aiel, would you show Lyrith here to his classes for a few days while he gets used to his new home?" Inferna asked the white who nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes my Lady, I would be honoured."

"Then escort him to breakfast, you both must be famished."

"Yes Lady Inferna! Come on Lyr, let's go get some grub!" Aiel grabbed Lyrith by the paw with his tail and dragged the smaller Albino out of the room. They were halfway to the student kitchen before Aiel let Lyr walk on his own. Lyrith only managed to keep from snapping at Aiel because he was intrigued about the existence of another Albino in the Temple.

"Wow!" Aiel grinned oafishly down at Lyr, which irritated the smaller white. "You are **so** lucky to be Inferna's student!"

"I suppose I am." Lyrith grunted as they turned a corner and into the hall that led to the kitchens.

"You get to learn from the Guardians! Master Volteer sometimes teaches me and my brother stuff, but you get to actually study with them. It's incredible, fantastic, amaz…"

"Ah Aiel! It is good to see you up and about." A large red dragon interrupted, stepping in front of them and blocking their path. "I have a task for you and your runty friend."

"Uh Torch, I have…" Aiel tried to cut through but was silenced by Torch's rant.

"My friends and I require fresh cream from the pantry. No excuses."

"But Inferna…"

"Would agree with me fresh cream is better than regular milk. Go. Now. Before I get irritated."

Aiel was trapped; Lyrith could see that in his pinkish eyes. He clearly did not want to cross the red dragon, Torch. But the Albino servant also had an assignment to complete. He had to escort Lyr around the Temple, and dragging the new student around the Temple on small errands would not achieve this end.

Torch sat smugly in the middle of the corridor, blocking any attempt to get past. His muzzle twisted into a malicious grin. The red was a foreboding sight, bigger than even Aiel; his muscled body had a chiselled look to it. Torch looked like he could have broken both Albinos between his paws without a second thought. He was a bully, and a big one. Lyrith came to Aiel's rescue.

"So you must be Torch. Droth mentioned you during our conversation last night. That is, before I treated him to dinner." Lyr bared his fangs in a wide grin that was as much a threat as a greeting. Torch glared down at Lyrith who had stepped forward between him and Aiel.

"Ah yes, it is the white rat. Why don't you go scurry off to the trash bin where you belong." Torch sneered, a wicked gleam in his eyes. Lyrith's grin only widened.

"I would love to stay and talk, but we are supposed to go for breakfast. And Aiel is **my guide**, Inferna's orders. You would not want to disobey **her**, would you?" Lyrith let the question hang. Torch glared at Lyr, and then reluctantly stepped out of the way. Lyrith smirked and stepped past Torch. Torch stopped Lyr with a paw.

"Listen here rat. I am the top drake around here, and as far as you go, you are the dirt beneath the lowest's paws. You ever cross me again and there won't be enough left of you to regret it." Torch growled, he gave Lyr a push and turned on his heels and tramped back down the hall.

"When that day comes **Candlestick**, I will gladly kick your ass." Lyrith called after the red, who glared back at the white.

"That day will come sooner than you think rat. And you will be the worse off." Then Torch disappeared into the kitchen. Lyrith and Aiel stood in silence for a moment, and then the silver horned dragon sighed with relief.

"Wow. I have never, ever seen anybody stand up to Torch like that. Thanks by the way, for getting me out of that mess."

"No problem." Lyrith breathed out the breath he had been holding. On an instinctive level, Lyr had known that Torch had been way out of his league, and could have easily destroyed him right there in the hall way. The white was just relieved that he had left the verbal swordplay in once literal piece.

"Let's go get some grub."

"Torch looks like he just had to eat a pinecone." Savron chuckled to Igneous when the infuriated red stormed into the room. Torch stomped past the line and took a seat beside Thunder and Wintra who had picked out his meal for him. A moment later, Lyrith and Aiel entered the kitchen and took their place in line. Savron laughed harder when he saw Torch's expression darken even further at the arrival of the Albinos.

"New Snow is like a cheese grater to Torch's proverbial cheese!"

Igneous chuckled at his friend's apt description of the white's effect on Torch. "Proverbial? Sav have you been learning on me?"

"Oh shut up!" Savron growled playfully, pushing Igneous out of the line and towards their table. Lyrith watched them go, his keen red eyes locking onto Savron's purple scales. Aiel noted Lyr's gaze.

"That is Savron and Igneous. They're both… well… nice. They are some of the only few here who will actually talk with me without ordering me around." They observed as the two reached their table and sat down with a group of other dragons. They chatted a moment, and then the group burst into peals of laughter.

Ember gave Lyr a bowl of jam after he had picked out his meal, and Lyr thanked her.

"Igneous is Torch's equal in terms of power and intelligence, but he is second in ranking for highest marks. I think Savron could reach the top if he tried but…"

A burly black dragon bumped into Aiel as they left the table and sent the Albino tumbling face first into the buffet table.

"Greedy swine! I was going to have some of that. But now I can't. I don't want to catch your uselessness." The buff shadow dragon snarled at Aiel. Aiel pulled himself from the platter of saucy chicken wings spluttering.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to get in your way." Aiel's face was smeared with sauce, which created splotches of orange on his white scales. The students nearby laughed at the greasy white, who flushed with embarrassment.

"You had better be sorry. Thanks to your carelessness, you have ruined everybody's appe…"

Lyrith stepped past the black dragon and, without batting an eye, wrapped his tail around the dragon's legs, and sent him tumbling into the buffet, right where Aiel's face had so recently been implanted. The crowd burst into guffaws as the shadow dragon surfaced gasping for breath. Aiel skipped past the dragon and caught up to Lyrith, who was taking a seat at an empty table, placing his plate on the table.

"How did you do that?" Aiel asked as he sat down beside his white friend.

"Do what?" Lyr asked his voice puzzled, but his eyes held a fierce amusement. They dug into their meals; Aiel had washed the sauce from his muzzle and now gorged himself on the delectable food.

"Mm, wow. This is **way** better than what we servants get to eat!" Aiel gasped, taking a break from shoving food into his muzzle.

"It is better than what I used to eat that is for sure." Lyrith agreed, as he finished his turkey leg.

Aiel glanced over at Lyr as he scooped up a pawful of jam and started lapping up the red substance.

"Why do you eat jam? Dragons don't eat jam."

Lyrith pushed the bowl over to Aiel with his free paw. "Give it a try, it's good."

Aiel gave Lyr a sceptical glance, and then dipped his claws into the jam and licked them experimentally.

"Pah! This is repulsive! It is so thick and has no taste at all. How can you eat this?" Aiel choked, pushing the bowl away. Lyrith frowned. He had always assumed he liked sweet foods because he was an Albino.

"_If other Albinos can't taste sweet things, then why can I?"_ Lyrith pondered, and then shrugged. It would not matter if he was the only dragon in the world who could taste sweet foods; he could, so he would live with his odd eating habits. Lyr picked up the bowl again and finished eating.

A bell tolled and the students got to their paws and started walking through the many exits.

"Classes are starting Lyr, what do you have first?" Aiel asked, getting to his paws and started through the nearest door.

"Magical histories." Lyr grunted, getting up and following suit.

"May the ancestors have mercy on your soul."

"What? Why?"

"Two words, Professor Cadence." Aiel said nothing more as he turned and led Lyr through the maze of hallways to his first class.

The classroom was unnaturally silent when Lyrith stalked in. Aiel had refused to enter with him, saying that on no uncertain terms were servants allowed in this classroom during class. Aiel had told Lyr that he would be back to guide him when class was over.

All eyes fixed on Lyr as he entered. Lyrith looked around for a seat and found an empty desk by the stage. He walked down the stairs towards the stage, ignoring the unwavering gazes of his fellow students.

"Well look who has finally decided to show up!" A rumbling voice echoed around the silent room like thunder. Lyr glanced down and caught sight of the fat wind dragon sitting on the stage. His one blue eye blazed with malice as it followed Lyrith to his seat.

"You are late. Normally I would give you a detention for such behaviour. But with your unevolved scales and brain, I can hardly expect you to understand a difficult concept such as time."

The class murmured amongst themselves, Cadence ignored them, the object of his ire being Lyrith, who paused to glance up at the clock. The clock was a circular mechanism of twelve small hourglasses. A complex system of weights and pulleys would flip the next hourglass in the circuit over once the previous one had filled up, moving the clock in an endless cycle. There had been one such device in the orphanage, and it had cost the Mother, and therefore the orphans a fortune.

"Actually I am right on time, Caddie." Lyrith sneered, his red eyes flashing. "Maybe you should get your **eye** checked."

The students around the class let out a collective gasp. Cadence's eye ridges furrowed with fury.

"I see we have a smart muzzle here. I will give you one warning, Snowy. Do not speak unless I give you permission. Otherwise we will have a long talk while you rot in detention."

Lyr looked unimpressed as he sat down. The white examined his claws but said nothing.

"Good." Cadenced grunted. "Now class, for the past week we have been studying Sub-Elements. We have learned Sub-Element origins, roles in society and we have discussed a few of the kinds of Sub-Element types found. Today we study **Albinos**."

Lyrith sat up in shock, Cadence peered at Lyrith with malevolent glee.

"And since we are so fortunate to have an Albino in our class, maybe we could ask him a few questions."

Tirren groaned. She could not help but feel sorry for the white. He had only just arrived and he had already offended most of the school. Cadence was going to torment the poor drake relentlessly, and pointing out the new student's disability was going to be the best way to do that.

"So how about it Snowy? Why don't you tell us what it is like to have no element?"

Lyrith did not answer. Instead he looked around the class with interest, as if looking for someone.

"Snowy I have addressed you! Answer me!" Cadence snarled, glaring daggers at Lyrith. The white continued to ignore Cadence. The wind dragon instructor marched over to Lyrith's desk and slammed a paw down, startling the Albino.

"ANSWER ME!" Cadence roared.

"Oh! You were talking to me! I thought you were talking to someone else." Lyrith gasped in mock astonishment. "I only answer to my name, **Lyrith**. Snowy is not my name."

Cadence spluttered at Lyrith's condescending tone, talking to the teacher as if he were addressing a child. The class chuckled as Cadence attempted to regain his composure.

"SILENCE!" The one eyed grey roared, shutting up the chattering students. "Fine then, **Lyrith**. Would you like to tell us what it is like having no magic?" Cadence repeated, rolling his eye. Lyrith paused and thought about the question. Finally he shrugged and looked Cadence in the eye.

"I don't know. What it is like to have magic?"

The class sat in stunned silence, pondering the question set before them. Cadence growled, angry at having his question so easily deflected.

"Then why don't you demonstrate on the stage?" He inquired maliciously. Lyrith glared at him, his blood red eyes burning. The white stood up and trudged onto the stage, and then he sat down. The class waited, but Lyrith just sat, saying nothing.

"Well?" Cadence snickered. Lyr rolled his eyes.

"What did you expect me to do? Try and breathe fire? Freeze the stage? Shoot lightning out of my ass?"

The class laughed, and Lyrith stormed off the stage, his irritation hanging about him like a black cloud.

"Since our Albino friend was less than cooperative, everyone receives extra homework." Cadence sneered. The class groaned and cast Lyr angry glances. Lyrith suddenly wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor.

Cadence began his lecture on the fundaments and facts of Albinos. He would often make insulting quips and remarks as the lesson progressed. Lyr felt increasingly uncomfortable and out of place in the room full of 'true' dragons. The students would laugh at the jokes, fully aware there was an Albino among them, and for once Cadence did nothing to stop them.

"_If all of my classes are like this, I might be better off back in the slums…"_

* * *

Lyrith stretched his cramped muscles, his body still stiff from the long sit in magical histories. Around him other students also stretched, flexing muscles and limbs. They stood in the center of a large open air gymnasium. Along the walls stacks of training equipment were stored, everything from weights to balls to pulleys. Serion, the physical trainer of the Temple strutted around the room, eying the students before him.

Nearly all of the other students were larger and beefier than Lyrith. But their physique was that of bodybuilders, they were muscular, but that was all. Lyrith could tell at a glance that most of the students here did not balance their exercises, focusing on strength alone and ignoring most of the other aspects of fitness.

"Now that you are all settled from your dull morning routines, it is time to start our warm up." Serion called, coming to a stop in front of his class. "And if you haven't noticed, we have a new student with us. His name is…" Serion glanced down at Lyrith, having already forgotten his name.

"Lyrith?" The Albino supplied. Serion nodded emphatically.

"Lyrith! He will be working with us from now on. I hope you can keep up Lylith! Today's warm up will be a jog!" Serion turned and began at a slow trot around the gym. The class followed after. Lyrith jogged along behind the ice dragon sports coach. A massive fire dragon beside Lyr chuckled darkly.

"You may think you're tough runt. But Serion is relentless, a stick like you won't last five minutes here."

The two horned red dragon sped up as Serion picked up speed. Lyr kept pace as the jog evolved into a fast trot, and then a gallop. The entire class raced along the track behind the ice dragon coach, who started to chant.

"Hup. Two. Three. Four. Hup. Two. Three. Four. I. Won't. Stop. Till. I. Reach. Six! Hup. Two. Three. Four. Hup. Two. Three. Four…"

The class groaned at the declaration and quickened their pace yet again. Within minutes Lyrith found himself at the front again, most of the class lagging behind unable to keep up the relentless pace. Beside him, Lyr saw Savron the purple, who ran while whistling a jaunty tune. A small yellow lightning dragoness who danced and whirled as she ran and a few other athletic drakes.

"Four. Five. Six! Alright were done!" Serion declared slowing to a halt. Lyr followed suit as did the others around him. Several seconds later the rest of the class caught up, panting for breath they stumbled past Lyr and towards the nearest water trough. Lyrith felt a surge of satisfaction as the red dragon from the start of the warm up staggered past and gulped down a mouthful of water. The white dragon felt energised rather than tired, this run reminded him of his jogs down to the lake after his supper at the orphanage.

Savron appeared the same way; his breathing was even and he was laughing at the antics of the little yellow dragoness.

"Iwannarace! Iwannarace!" She cried exuberantly, bouncing around Serion delightedly.

"Calm down Zindy!" Savron chortled, walking over to the energetic lightning dragoness. "We can't keep up. What did you say? You want a race?"

"A race!" Serion bellowed, causing the entire class to cringe at the words and the ear ringing volume. "That sounds like an excellent idea!"

The class groaned but was too tired to argue.

"Alright, take a quick breather and then get into position!" Serion commanded, taking a seat at the starting line. The other students jostled Lyrith as they moved into position. The white soon found himself wedged between the fire drake from before and a wind drake. They pushed and shoved the smaller white as they tried to get a better position. Lyr snarled and pushed back, nearly knocking the wind dragon over.

The race track ran from one end of the gym to the other, a wide bend turned the course back in an arc causing the track to run back to the other side of the gym. There the two ends of the track met, forming a loop.

Finally the line settled and everyone crouched waiting for the signal. Lyr's heart was pounding. This was it, a chance to prove himself in front of a teacher. Cadence had not given him any such chance, but now he would show he was worthy, even if it was only in sports.

Serion raised his head and gave off a shrill whistle. The dragons took off, shooting across the packed dirt race track like coloured comets. Lyr started to run, but the red swiped his paws out from under him. Lyr cursed as he crashed to the ground, the red laughed as he raced ahead. Lyr scrambled to his paws and raced off in pursuit.

Despite the difference in size, Lyrith was considerably faster than the bulky drakes of his class, and rapidly gained ground. Serion watched impressed as the white recovered from his slip and shot off after his classmates. The Albino moved in long powerful leaps, a feral gait that ate up ground like a starving drake.

Savron and Zindy broke away from the other dragons, racing neck and neck for first. Lyrith caught up to his classmates as they neared the bend in the track. A bulky lightning dragon and the red tried to block Lyrith off, but the white slipped through an opening. He weaved between the running students like water through a crack.

One brawny ice dragon shoved over, trying to knock the white over. Lyrith skipped forward, avoiding the dragon who crashed into several others. They went down in a heap, tripping up all of the other racers behind them.

Zindy pulled ahead of Savron as they raced past the bend, behind them, an athletic earth dragoness raced into third. Lyrith burst from the cluster of racers not far behind her. The brown snarled in irritation as the Albino gradually gained on her. Ahead of them, Savron and Zindy hurtled along the race track, Zindy now far ahead of Savron and most of the way to the finish line.

"I will not be beaten by a filthy white!" The earth dragoness snarled. She released a burst of earth magic into the ground. The ground behind her exploded upwards in pillars of stone, barring the way.

Serion, who had barely tolerated the tripping and shoving, growled and rose to his paws, ready to call out the earth dragoness. What he saw next stunned him into silence.

Lyrith leapt into the air and landed on one of the stone pillars. The Albino skipped and jumped across the range of stone with an agility that astonished the ice dragon teacher. Lyrith took one last leap and landed in front of the earth dragoness at a run. The dirt that sprayed up behind the Albino caught the dragoness in the eyes, blinding her long enough for her to trip and fall. Serion gaped in amazement as Lyrith sped on, as if he had never encountered an obstacle.

Lyrith was just as amazed as Serion; he glanced back at the barricade he had overcome. The other students were forced to run around, none willing to try the daring stunt Lyr had pulled off.

"_How did I do that?"_ He wondered, and then smiled at the teacher's shocked expression. _"Best not let them know it was a fluke."_

Lyr caught up to Savron on the last stretch of the race. Ahead of them Zindy flashed across the finish line, but continued racing around the room, squealing in delight. Lyrith pulled up beside the purple, the finish line now only seconds away. Savron grunted and sped up, bounding across the ground in massive leaps. Lyr kept pace, his muscles straining with each bound. The ground churned beneath them as they hurtled towards the end, neither wavering, eyes focused on the goal ahead.

Savron put on a last burst of speed as the neared the end, hoping to gain ground, but to no avail. They crossed the line, neck and neck, neither surrendering an inch.

Lyrith ground to a halt several meters past the finish, breathing heavily. He wouldn't have been surprised if his breath came out as steam. Savron staggered to a halt beside him and stood, legs spread wide apart, head held low breathing hard. The two dragons stood side by side, purple and white, complete opposites, yet equals.

The other students stumbled past the finish behind them, and Savron glanced up and grinned warmly at Lyr as the other students staggered past.

"Must be… nice to… look down on a purple… from second… Eh Snowy?"

Lyrith blinked in astonishment as Savron moved away from him and towards the water trough along with the other students. Zindy was still bounding around the room, her cheers echoing through the silence.

"Iwon! Iwon! Iwon!"

But Lyr ignored her, he had done it. He had beaten a **purple**! A feat he had never before dreamed possible. A goofy grin spread across his features. Serion walked over to Lyrith and patted him on the back with a strong paw.

"Good job Backflip. Those were some impressive moves out there. I can definitely see why Inferna chose you, keep it up and you will be an excellent dragon." The ice dragon coach praised. A loud whoop and crash made him glance up, a look of horror creasing his muzzle. He rushed past Lyr and charged after Zindy, shouting at her to put the trophy back.

Lyrith strutted over to the trough and drank deeply, a prideful grin playing across his features. He had placed second in a race, beaten Savron, son of the legendary heroes Spyro and Cynder and had impressed one of his teachers on his first day… There were worse ways to start off your day in school.

* * *

"He **beat** you!" Igneous asked for the fourth time, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yes, he beat me," Savron repeated exasperated. "by a nose, but he still beat me."

They sat on the bleachers in the combat training area, watching as Terrador began his introduction to a new combat move. He described its strengths and weaknesses, and when and when not to use it. On the other side of the area, Spyro and his class started setting up for his lesson.

"I still can't believe it." Tirren scoffed. "New Snow beat **you** in a race? You are one of the fastest runners here Sav, it is unbelievable that he could beat you at racing."

It was just after lunch and the three sat in Terrador's advanced combat class. Savron had found his friends during their lunch break and had described to them the athletics class he had had with the Albino, going into great detail about the race. His friends had been shocked to hear the news that Savron had lost a race to the Lyrith, and constantly repeated their sentiments as if by doing so, they would somehow change the fact.

"Believe it or not, he still beat me."

"First he takes out Granite and Droth, then he all but spits in Cadence's eye. And now he beats you in a race. What will New Snow do next?" Tirren asked the air in front of her, raising her front paws in question. A sudden murmur grabbed their attention as Lyrith walked through the door with Aiel.

"Well we are about to find out." Savron replied flippantly. Aiel scurried in front of Lyr, and bowed to Spyro.

"Sorry we are late sir. I got us lost for a bit."

"That is alright. Class has just started. Next time though come a bit early." Spyro answered beckoning them over. Spyro watched the Albinos curiously. Aiel, whom Spyro had seen many times before gazed at him reverently. He walked hesitantly alongside Lyrith, fidgeting like a nervous rabbit. Lyrith however, moved with confidence, strong and powerful. The difference between them was obvious to any close observer. Aiel was a servant, Lyrith was a warrior.

_"But how much of a warrior."_ Spyro thought as he watched Lyrith take a seat on the bleachers. The students nearest him edged away. Aiel stood awkwardly beside Lyrith, not willing to take a seat among his superiors, but also unsure as whether or not he was supposed to leave.

"Aiel, would you like to help in today's lesson?" Spyro inquired of the Albino, Aiel nodded enthusiastically and jogged onto the dirt training ground to stand before the purple.

"What do you want me to do master Spyro?" Aiel asked breathlessly. Spyro grinned down at the white.

"Do you see that statue over there, by the wall?" Spyro pointed to his right with a claw, indicating a statue of a Cheetah warrior. Aiel nodded. "There is a switch behind there. Every time I do this," Spyro lifted his head and blew two streams of blue flame into the air. "I want you to pull that switch. Understood?"

Aiel nodded again and bounded over towards the statue.

When Lyrith had entered the training ground, Terrador had stopped his instruction and turned to watch the scene with interest. As Aiel took position by the statue, Terrador turned back to his students.

"I think today we will watch Spyro's class train. Take note of where they make mistakes and leave themselves open for attack. Tomorrow I would like a paper describing the twelve most common mistakes a rookie fighter makes, judging solely on your observations."

The Earth Guardian's students, who had already been watching the class, dutifully continued their staring.

"Now before we can begin our lesson," Spyro spoke to Lyr, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I need to know your current level of combat experience. Lyrith, would you be so kind as to come up here beside me?" Spyro beckoned Lyr to stand beside him and the Albino stood up. Lyr ambled over to the purple and stood in front of him. The other students shifted and murmured to each other. They were all anxious to see the white fight. Many hoped to see the white put in his place, but many others were curious to know if he really was a good fighter, or if Granite and Droth's defeat was a fluke.

From over in Terrador's class Wintra snickered. She sat between Torch and Thunder who were both grinning evilly.

"Hoo boy, it's about time we get to see some action." Thunder rumbled. Torch chortled maliciously.

"Yeah, it is not often we get to see practice dummies beat on a helpless lizard as a class project!"

"Maybe we should call in some of Aquina's healers, he will certainly need it. Because Whitey is in for a world of hurt." Wintra giggled.

"Step into the ring Lyrith. There you will fight several training dummies, defend yourself, and defeat as many as you can." Spyro informed the white. "The fight will start as soon as you are in the center of the ring."

Lyrith said nothing as he walked into the ring; he stopped at the center and looked back at Spyro. The purple hero raised his head and blew two streams of blue flame. From the other side of the room Aiel pulled the switch down. A loud clattering noise echoed around the chamber. Then suddenly, six wood and straw dummies pulled themselves from the ground. They were larger than the Ape dummies Lyr had fought, and each carried a wooden club. They stood around him for a moment, and Lyr could only stare in amazement.

The dummies suddenly gave off animalistic shrieks and rushed forward, raising their clubs to strike the small Albino. Spyro watched as the calm, collected Albino changed, Lyr's body lowered to the ground, and his lips peeled back to reveal his jagged fangs. Red eyes burning, Lyrith roared his challenge and rushed forward, his lithe body moving fluidly. The dummy nearest Lyrith swept its club at the white. Lyr jumped clear over the dummy's swing and over its head. A powerful sweep from his talons tore its wooden head from its shoulders and hurled it into the bleachers. The students yelped and ducked for cover as the wooden head whizzed past and crashed into the stone wall behind them.

Lyrith landed on all fours, behind him the decapitated dummy collapsed twitching. Two more charged the white, Lyrith dodged to the side, avoiding their strikes. Lyrith's claws whipped forward, lacerating the stomach of one of the dummies. A second blow from Lyrith slashed across its throat, spilling out straw like blood.

The second mannequin recovered from its swing and struck at Lyrith from behind. The blow clipped Lyr across the back. Whirling, Lyrith pounced on the wooden dummy. His tackled forced the larger creature to the floor, Lyrith's jaws clamped down on its neck. The dummy struggled beneath the white as Lyr proceeded to tear the wood and straw out of its throat.

The remaining three dummies crept up on the grappling pair. Lyrith sensed the danger just as they raised their clubs. He threw himself off of his victim as the clubs came whistling down, the thick wooden mallets crashed into the sprawling dummy, splintering its wooden frame.

Spyro watched Lyrith fight, impressed. The white was clearly an experienced fighter, and obviously well trained. He made no wasted movements, and struck only to kill or maim. The purple dragon felt a smile crease his muzzle.

_"I guess Inferna made a good choice after all. I wonder if he is as good at studying as he is fighting. If he is, he will easily make the prodigy mark, even without an element."_ Spyro thought pleased.

Tirren gasped as she watched Lyrith dispatch three of the six mannequins in rapid succession. Moving with a savage grace, he tore another apart with brutal efficiency before it could recover from its swing. Beside her, Savron and Igneous watched the scene with avid interest; they too seemed to share her sentiments. They watched as Lyrith danced with the last two dummies, nimbly dodging their attacks and striking back with fast, powerful blows.

"Man, he must have had a hell of a teacher." Igneous commented to Savron as they watched. "It is like watching a cat play with a mouse, and he's the cat."

Lyrith flipped over one of the remaining two dummies. As he summersaulted, his tail blade flicked out and sliced a chunk off of its blocky head. It stood, twitching as Lyrith landed behind it. Lyr turned and gave the mannequin a shove, sending it sprawling into the last dummy. The wooden creature swung its club and batted the motionless straw creature out of the way. Lyrith charged. The dummy swung wildly, caught off balance from its previous swing. Lyr ducked underneath its clumsy swing and gored the dummy with his horns. A jerk from his head tore open its sternum, and straw poured out of its eviscerated chest. It dropped its club and stumbled backwards; it wobbled for a moment, and then toppled to the floor.

Lyr huffed and then smirked, casting a glance over towards Spyro. The purple dragon was nodding, a smile of approval etched across his features. The students sat stunned from the furious battle. None had really expected it to end so quickly, or in the white's favour.

From across the training hall, Terrador started clapping, the sound sharp against the silence. Spyro joined in, giving the Albino a toothy grin. After a moment, the other students joined in, their applause was half hearted at best, and many gave Lyr icy looks, a mixture of fury and loathing. Despite the lackluster and in many cases hostile applause, Lyrith felt pride well up in him.

Aiel stood up onto his rear paws and clapped wildly, grinning oafishly. Wintra glared at the silver horned Albino spitefully. Aiel stood fairly close to where they were sitting. A malicious smile creased her features. As Aiel took a step forward to congratulate his friend still applauding, Wintra blew a small burst of ice at his paws. Aiel slipped on the slick patch of ice. He flailed as he fell, and reached out for the nearest thing to keep him from falling, the switch. The lever was pulled down with him and came to a stop with an ominous splintering noise.

All around Lyrith the wooden dummies pulled themselves back together, the wood and straw fitting back together seamlessly. They swung their weapons at Lyrith who sat stunned at their sudden reappearance. The weak applause faded and was replaced with cheering as the dummies took another swing at Lyrith who was still trying to recover.

Spyro whirled to face Aiel who was desperately trying to push the switch back up. The purple raced over to the struggling Albino.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Spyro roared at Aiel who flinched away from his harsh words.

"I-I'm sorry master! I slipped and fell!" Aiel cried, cowering away from Spyro's furious expression. "I accidentally pulled the switch and it broke! It won't go back up!"

Spyro glanced back at Lyrith; he had recovered but was slowly being beaten back. Every time a dummy fell, it immediately repaired itself and continued the fight. Lyr was tearing them to pieces but nothing he did could stop them.

Spyro growled. "Help me push this back up. Then we will talk about what you have done."

Aiel nodded solemnly, resigned to his inevitable punishment. Terrador appeared by their side and together they began trying to force the lever back into place.

Wintra, Torch and Thunder laughed uproariously at the scene as Lyrith was beaten down by the dummies. He fought valiantly, dodging left and right, striking down dummy after dummy, but they never stopped, he was struck multiple times from all angles. Tirren glared at the trio with disgust. She was sure they were behind the commotion, but had no proof to support her theory.

The trio's laughter was abruptly cut off, as a dummy reared up in front of them, raising its club. Torch and Thunder threw themselves to the ground, but Wintra who had been sitting between them, did not react quick enough. The thick wooden club caught her across the side of the head and sent her sprawling.

All around the training ground shouts of alarm sounded as dummies appeared from the ground and attacked the students. Torch rolled to his paws and sent a stream of molten fire at the mannequin. It was engulfed in flame and quickly disintegrated from the intense heat.

"Get up!" Torch ordered of the dazed Wintra. He grabbed her paws and pulled her pack up. She swayed dizzily for a moment before her eyes focused again. Tirren and her friends' amusement at seeing Wintra put in her place quickly dispersed as several dummies charged them.

The room was soon engulfed in fighting. Fire and lightning streaked through the air and into the horde of training dummies. Sheets of ice flashed over the mannequins and tremors and earth bullets tore through the straw army. Gusts of wind blasted dummies out of the way, and here and there, fountains of black fire, creeping shadows and whips of darkness could be seen.

In the middle of it all, Lyrith fought. With much of the dummies attention taken off of him thanks to the all-out battle raging around him, he pressed forward. Moving like a white whirlwind he tore through the dummies leaving a trail of rebuilding straw and wood behind him. Lyr broke through the crowd of dummies and found himself in open ground.

He caught sight of a pair of water dragons battling off half a dozen mannequins and slowly being pressed back. Lyrith charged forward, and with a powerful leap, slammed into a dummy that was moving to strike the blue dragons. Catching the wooden doll beneath the chin with his horns, Lyr tore its head off with a yank of his head. In a flash the water dragons seized the opening and shot jets of water from their mouths. The high pressured streams cut cleanly through the wood and straw of three of the remaining five.

"Dude, we like, totally didn't need your help." One of the blue dragons spat. Lyrith shrugged and with a flick of his tail sliced through a dummy's legs. Leaving the wooden doll and the water dragons behind Lyr turned and ran off to the next group of combatants.

"Heave!" Spyro roared as he, Aiel and Terrador attempted to force the switch upwards. The lever groaned and then snapped with a splintering crack. The three looked down at the broken off length of the switch with horror.

"Uh-oh." Aiel whispered. All around them the battle raged, elements flashed and dummies were tossed about like ragdolls. It was an all-out war between the students and the training dummies.

Spyro looked around, panic rising to the surface. The dummies were totally out of control, and the students probably did not realise it, but there was no longer a restraining force holding the mannequins back. This was no longer a game.

"Terrador, what do we do!" Spyro asked, fear hitching up his voice.

"I don't know!" The Earth Guardian responded, panic also setting in. "The only thing keeping the dummies going is the mechanism, but without the switch we can't…" Terrador trailed off, both he and Spyro realising what to do at the same time.

"The mechanism!" They cried in unison.

Terrador pushed Aiel out of the way as Spyro examined the wall beside the statue. Finding the correct spot, Spyro stood on his hind paws and drew a foreleg back and he clenched his paw shut. Bolts of green energy crackled around his paw as he drove it at the wall. The smooth marble disintegrated in a blast of dust where he had struck. A spider web of cracks stretched out for meters around the point of impact and a small tremor knocked Aiel over.

Through the hole in the wall, the three could see the churning gears and tubes of incandescent energy. It was the mechanism that kept the dummies moving. Gripping the lever in his paws and praying to the ancestors that this would work, Terrador shoved the lever into the spinning gears. The machine ground to a halt.

Lyrith had been pulling the stuffing out of one dummy when it suddenly went limp. He dropped the dummy in surprise and looked around. All of the other students were looking around like him, confused at the sudden cease of combat. The dummies littered the floor, straw and wood scattered across the battle field. Lyrith sat down relieved. He had enjoyed the fight at first, but he had had it harder than most of the other students. They could destroy multiple enemies at once with their element; he could only tear his victims to pieces one by one. Lyr had soon felt the pressure as wave after wave of immortal dummies attacked. Lyrith had always prided himself in being an expert at fighting against many opponents at once, but when your victims got right back up after a disembowelling, you were in trouble.

Suddenly Lyrith smirked. _"I hope all of my classes are this interesting."_

Spyro looked around at the destruction. Scores of dummies were strewn around the room. The training ring had been torn apart in the battle, and the once level dirt ground was hilly with craters and piles of debris.

None of the students appeared more than a little bruised, in fact, many were laughing, as if the battle had been nothing more than a game of tag. Spyro sighed.

"Class dismissed!" The purple shouted over the chatter. The students whooped and poured out of the room. Lyrith sighed with disappointment as he padded out of the room. It took him a moment to realise his guide was not following him. He turned and watched as the two teachers rounded on Aiel, who shrunk back beneath their accusing gazes. The white looked down defeated as he awaited his punishment.

* * *

"I still can't believe that they banned you from the combat training ground!" Lyrith hissed as they strode down the hallway back to his room. Lyr's last class had ended half an hour ago and, the smaller white, still enthralled by the Temple, wanted to drop off his homework before exploring some more.

"No, it is alright. Besides I could have gotten a lot worse." Aiel sighed, and then smiled at the enraged Albino beside him.

Lyrith looked at the other white sceptically.

"I could have been kicked out of the Temple." Aiel supplied. Lyrith considered his argument, and then nodded in agreement.

"I guess you could have had it worse."

They arrived at Lyrith's room and stopped at the door. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Aiel opened the door for Lyrith. Lyrith stepped in. The room was much how he had left it in the morning. All but barren, pillows scattered across the floor. Lyr stalked over to his desk and dumped all of his homework out of the sack Aiel had given him. Most of his assignments were from magical histories, but he had a scattering from his math and dragon history courses as well.

Overall his day had been great. His math teacher, Volteer had been enthusiastic, and the class had whizzed by. When Lyr left, his head had been throbbing from the combined effort of trying to understand both his teacher and the content of the class. But the excitable Lightning Guardian had not even seemed to notice his white scales.

He had then been brought to the library where Inferna gave him private lessons on writing. The quiet calm of the massive room had been a blessing after Volteer's lesson.

Once his combat training had finished, Lyrith had gone to dragon history with Cynder. Cynder had Lyrith sit up front and had caught him up to their current topic while the rest of the class did a project. The Shadow Guardian had treated him with care, as if dancing around the issue of his scales. But her kindness had cheered him up greatly.

His day had ended with a lesson from Hunter, the cheetah. The feline warrior was another figure of legend for Lyrith, but unlike his dragonic teachers, had treated him like an old friend. Hunter's lesson on survival had been fast paced and exhilarating. Very few dragons were involved in it, so Lyrith had been able to relax with the Cheetah warrior and have fun.

"So how was your day Lyr?"

Lyrith leapt into the air in alarm as Inferna materialized beside him, having somehow managed to remain hidden in his room, despite being twice his size.

"Damn it Inferna! Stop doing that!" Lyr roared in anger, stomping his paw down on a loose sheet of paper. Inferna snickered. Lyrith grumbled as he started gathering up his papers, which had fallen the floor in his surprise. "You could have told me she was here Aiel." The grumpy white complained.

"But she told me not to. I can't just disobey orders." Aiel chuckled.

"So how was your day?" The Fire Guardian repeated an amused smile on her features.

"It was great, except for magical histories."

"Why? Was Caddie being a grouch?"

Lyrith said nothing; instead he picked up a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to Inferna. She took it and examined the page. She frowned as she started reading. Her frown evolved into an outraged snarl as she reached the bottom.

"He… how dare he!"

Lyrith turned and padded over to Aiel.

"I would like to go back to the library Aiel; I want to see what kind of books I can take out."

"Sounds great!" Aiel agreed cheerfully. They moved towards the door, but Inferna caught Lyr with her tail.

"You won't have to worry about Cadence; I will deal with him personally." Inferna growled clutching the sheet in her paw so tightly she nearly crushed it. Lyrith nodded his thanks and the two Albinos slipped from the room.

Inferna watched him go, anger pouring off of her in waves. She was certain that what was written on the sheet had hurt Lyr more than he was willing to show. But she also knew from her week traveling with him that pushing him would only make it worse.

"Cadence will pay for this." Inferna whispered, grinding her fangs. She stomped from the room, and slammed the door behind her.

* * *

Spyro and Terrador walked down the Temple halls towards the council chamber. They had spent the whole rest of the day cleaning up the disastrous mess in the training ground, directing servants and even participating in the job itself. The damage done to machine would take days to repair, and the wall weeks.

The purple saviour felt bad for punishing Aiel the way he had. The white was always a willing helper and enthusiastic about any job he took up. But he had also wrecked a valuable and expensive machine, and had put their students in danger. Even if it had been an accident, such an act could not go unpunished.

Spyro's mind however, was elsewhere. Lyrith's display in the training room had astounded him. The white moved with a kind of grace and power Spyro had not seen anywhere except in older and experienced warriors. Spyro had caught glimpses of the Albino fighting in the chaos of the class brawl and had been thoroughly impressed. Despite not having an element, Lyrith had handled himself well in the battle field, taking down as many if not more dummies than any other student.

Spyro and the Earth Guardian turned a corner, and the purple broke the silence.

"So Terrador, what do you think?" Spyro asked the silent green.

"Think of what exactly?" Terrador rumbled.

"Our new student." Spyro answered. Terrador frowned as he gave the matter some thought.

"As a teacher, I say we put him into intermediate, and let him go up from there."

Spyro nodded. "But?"

"But as a warrior and a dragon, I say we put him straight into advanced training. I am hesitant to admit it, but he may well be the best close combat fighter of all of our students."

Spyro smiled, he had come to the same conclusion as well. They entered through the council chamber to find the rest of the staff sitting in their places.

"How go the repairs to the training rooms?" Cyril asked from his seat as the two dragons took their places.

"Smoothly." Terrador responded. "The damage is not as bad as we had feared; the main problem is the wall. We can get spare parts for our machine, but our workers will have to work night and day for nearly a week to get the wall fixed. But since that isn't practical, roughly three weeks until the job is done."

The staff nodded in satisfaction. Volteer stood up.

"Itrustyouweren't too hard on my servant, Terrador, Spyro." The Lightning Guardian spoke, slowing as he finished his sentence. Spyro shook his head.

"We banned him from the training room and gave him dish duty for two weeks. Considering the damage the punishment is minimal."

Volteer nodded in satisfaction and sat back down. It was Darius who spoke next.

"Now on to the purpose of this meeting. What is the decision on our new student's status? Is he a prodigy or just another dragon?"

"Well I found his performance to be more than satisfactory!" Serion bellowed, drawing complaints from those around him. "He did excellent in my physical training program."

"He showed remarkable learning capabilities in my class." Volteer agreed. "He has an astounding, astonishing ability to grasp a concept almost immediately."

"I agree completely." Cynder replied, nodding to the yellow Guardian as he took a seat. "Lyrith took very little time to understand anything I taught him, and is showing a great deal of determination in his work."

"Lyrith is capable and enthusiastic." Hunter nodded, his arms crossed. "I agree with everything said so far."

Terrador cleared his throat. Everyone looked to him as he spoke.

"Spyro and I watched Lyrith in the training ground today, and what we have found is that he is a remarkable fighter. Possibly among our best. Even without an element he is as capable as any in a fight."

"You must be mistaken." Cadence growled and stood up. The rest of the staff murmured in puzzlement as Cadence glared at the speakers.

"The white who entered my class preformed dismally. He was unable to answer any of my questions; his writing was illegible and was undeniably rude. He showed absolutely no respect to his superiors and further more mocked his teacher in front of his class. This cannot be the same student you are referring to, and if it is, than he is most definitely not a prodigy."

Cadence was all but shouting as he came to a close, his blazing blue eye wide and spittle frothing at his muzzle. The staff sat in shock at his announcement. Inferna who had been glaring at Cadence the entire time stood up.

"It was the same student, Caddie, and he is little to what you claim he is. Lyrith can be rude, but only if he thinks he is being mocked. He has a bit of a short temper, but he is nothing to what you say he is!" Inferna roared at the grey who sneered.

"It is I who decide what I think of him, **Infernal**, not you. So shut your trap."

The staff gasped at the wind dragon's blatant disrespect for the Fire Guardian.

"I believe that you purposefully antagonized Lyrith, and maneuvered him into a position where you could mock and humiliate him in front of his classmates." Inferna returned with a sneer. The staff gasped again at her accusation. Cadence reeled as if bitten.

"What!" He cried in shock.

"If you do not have proof Inferna, then please keep your opinion to yourself." Terrador rumbled.

Inferna smirked. "Oh but I do have proof."

Terrador raised an eye ridge as Inferna produced a sheet of crumpled paper from behind her horns. She placed the sheet on the table and slid it over to Terrador. He picked it up.

"That is an assignment sheet Lyrith received from his magical histories class." Inferna clarified to the other staff members as Terrador opened and read its contents.

The Earth Guardian's expression changed from curiosity to disbelief as he read the paper. He glared at Cadence and started reading.

"Question one: What is the most common parentage of an Albino? Question two: Why do Albinos possess no element? Question three…"

As Terrador read the list the staff started casting Cadence disgusted glares. He had been purposefully drawing attention to Lyrith's scales during the course of his lesson. Their anger grew more prominent as the questions continued.

"Question twelve: In your opinion, do you think Albinos should be removed from our society and put back into the wild where they belong?" Terrador finish with a growl, the paper crumpled in his talons as he glared at Cadence with revulsion. The room exploded into outraged shouts as the Earth Guardian finished, Cadence stood strong against the glares and shouts, a scowl on his face.

"Explain yourself Cadence!" Spyro snarled, furious at the offensive paperwork they had just listened to.

"They are merely questions." Cadence responded with a shrug. "The students have to learn about our new arrival to better understand him. Was there something wrong with trying to bring understanding to our young ones?"

"Not like this Cadence." Cynder growled, hackles rising. "We do not want our students to scorn Lyrith; we want him to be accepted. He has had enough trouble being accepted without you making it worse!"

"Another thing," Cyril cut in, raising a claw. "The last question, it appears to be a petition posed as a question. Such a deceitful method for getting your point across is unacceptable Cadence. You are not the only one who has a few issues with having an Albino in our school, but this will not do. Not only are you inciting the student body against one of their own, but we have never authorized such a petition."

Cadence shrugged. "As I said before, it is merely a question, I meant nothing of…"

"THAT IS ENOUGH CADENCE!" Terrador thundered over the din, slamming his mace ball tail down on the stone table. The talking abruptly stopped.

"You have no right to speak in this matter. For now I will only give you a warning. Do not continue this behaviour. Another incident like this and I will have you replaced."

"Replaced!" The one eyed wind cried out in alarm.

"Yes, for you will have shown us you are a bad influence over our students." Terrador growled. He turned back to the staff. "Thank you Inferna for bringing this to our attention. All in favour of discounting Cadence's opinion say aye."

A chorus of ayes sounded. Cadence was too shocked to object.

"Motion carried. And the bet closed. The second option, Inferna returning within three months and with a prodigy wins."

Darius, Volteer and Spyro whooped and jumped to their paws. Flame and Serion bumped paws, and Hunter leaned back satisfied at the outcome. The rest of the staff sighed and reluctantly nodded.

Inferna watched the display with amusement, and then a frown crossed her features.

"Excuse me." She called out, and the staff looked to her curiously. "Would you be so kind as to tell me the other bets, and why so few of you actually believed in me?"

The six victors stopped cheering and snickered as the rest of the staff looked at each other embarrassed. Inferna waited patiently as Cyril cleared his throat nervously.

"Well, you see…"

Characters created by Dardarax:

Lyrith

Aiel

Savron's Gang (Savron, Igneous, Tirren, Zindy)

Torch's Gang (Torch, Wintra, Thunder)

Temple Staff (Inferna, Cadence, Serion, Darius)

Double digits baby yeah! I hope this chapter was satisfying after the long wait I gave you. It certainly did take a while to finish, but I feel content with my work. The next chapter is considerably shorter than this one, so it should be out sooner, rather than later.

I would also like to take this time to point someting out. If you want to PM me, you are welcome to, just make sure that your own private messenging feature is on. That way I can reply to any quesitions you may have. If I can't reply, then I feel frustrated that someone sent me a message, probably wants a response, and won't get any because they can't take messages. Call it a pet peeve.


	11. Deep Breath

Chapter 11. Deep Breath

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple, or any other character or place that belongs to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below._

"Hey Snowy! Did you fall down some stairs or have you always looked that ugly?" A brawny wind dragon jeered at Lyrith as he passed him in the hall. The other students around him all laughed. Lyr turned to face them, his scarred muzzled twisting into a sneer.

"Why don't you go shove your head up your ass, it should fit. As they say, like attracts like."

The wind dragon spluttered, around him all of the other dragons gave mocking 'ooh's and laughed at the flustered dragon. Lyrith smirked and continued on his way.

"Go choke on a weasel, lizard!" The grey snarled after Lyrith, the white did not even deign to respond.

In the week he had studied at the Temple, Lyrith's life had improved dramatically. He was eating well every day, his lessons were going smoothly, and his teachers had come to respect him as no one had ever done before. Even Cadence had stopped targeting him in class, just as Inferna had promised. Lyrith was slightly disappointed to have been moved from Spyro's class, but his lessons from Terrador in advanced combat training more than made up for the loss. The teasing had not changed, but the white no longer had to worry about the random assaults that had plagued his previous life.

Lyrith turned a corner and into a long corridor, the windows to his left were unshuttered to reveal the lush landscape below. Lyrith had stopped needing Aiel's guidance after about four days, and could now easily find his classrooms, though he sometimes got lost while exploring.

Around the white's neck a satchel full of books and paper hung, overburdened by the load of work and material Lyrith had to digest in his classes. Lyr took several more turns before the library came into view. When Lyrith had first seen the Temple's library, he had not been prepared for the sight that had greeted him.

He had pictured it as Ireeca's library, large and full of books, enough reading material for a lifetime. The Temple library could have easily fit three or four of the Duchess's libraries inside of it, with space for a snack bar. Literally tens of thousands of books, scrolls and manuscripts were stored inside. Nearly all of which were accessible to the students. Lyrith had spent hours of each day marvelling at the splendour he had never before imagined possible.

Lyrith turned into the library, and looked around. The Library was separated into three levels; on each level multitudes of shelves were lined in neat rows and crammed with books. Each level had an entrance, but Lyrith stood on the first level. The first level was the studying section. Here all manner of texts, history books and manuscripts were available for students to borrow for studying purposes. In addition to the towering shelves and countless books, tables were scattered around the room where students could sit in the silence and work.

The second level was of a more relaxed nature. It contained novels of every variety for those who wished to read purely for pleasure. Like the first level many tables were sprinkled around the room, resting in alcoves and in secluded corners. The third and final level was for restricted documents. It was rare for a student to be allowed onto the third floor, as it contained materials that could prove dangerous to the young dragons. Tomes of dark magic, old prophecies and ancient lore could all be found on the third floor.

"Ah it is good to see you again Lyrith." Darius the head librarian whispered as he trotted over to Lyrith. "I have not seen you since yesterday. Here for another book?"

Lyrith smiled. The skeletal sand dragon could always make his day. His friendly demeanour and playful attitude could turn a dour day into a bucket of laughs.

"No I still have to finish the last one I took out. I do have to get a book on poisonous plants for survival class though."

"I know just what you need." Darius declared in a whisper. The sand dragon led Lyr around the shelves and then picked out a thin book. It was a mottled green colour and labelled _Beware may cause itching!_ Lyrith grinned at the title of the book as he took it.

"A fun and informative guide to the poisonous plants of out wilderness. I say this shall do nicely!"

"Thanks Darius, this will help a lot." Lyrith turned and padded over to a nearby table where he sat down and started reading. Darius watched Lyr go with a small smile.

"It is good to see you adapting so well to our home, Lyrith."

* * *

_Of all kinds of dragons, it is said that the dragons of light are second only to the purples in power. In our ancient past, these marvellous beings could be found in abundance. They had built a magnificent empire that spanned across most of the world, living in peace with the other nations. Their cities were marvels to behold, in fact, the Dragon Temples that can be found scattered across the world are of their design. _

_The light dragon's magnificent artwork was equal only to their magic. Their element, light, allowed them to create illusions, turn invisible to the naked eye and attack with beams of light. They were formidable fighters indeed. So formidable in fact, that they easily suppressed any threat to their great and mighty empire. _

_During their reign, they were considered the paragons of dragon kind. Which is why it came as a shock to the rest of the world when their rule came to an abrupt end from an unexpected plague that swept through their empire. What the plague did not destroy, the gryphons, dragon kind's archrival, dismantled in a long and bloody…_

The book was suddenly swiped from Tirren's paws as Savron, bored of studying took it from her.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Tirren cried angrily. She reached out to take it back, but Savron held the book just out of reach.

"Aw, come on Rin. You have just been sitting there, reading and completely ignoring us."

"Well this **is** a library Sav. We are supposed to read." Tirren hissed, reaching further out to get her book back. "And you should be studying. The only reason you're not locked up in your room is because you promised your mom you would study."

"I am studying." Savron replied, holding the book just a little farther out of her reach, forcing the green to lean across the table. "I just want to socialize a little. Why would we study in a group if we don't socialize?" The purple glanced over at the book he was holding. Tirren made a swipe for it, but he scooted away from her.

"History of ancient empires? Aren't we supposed to be studying Sub-Elements? Shame on you Rin!"

"I have already finished my project. Give it back!" The green earth dragoness all but shouted. The students nearby all glared at Tirren, making her flush. Savron clucked with disappointment.

"Tirren, this is a library, you are supposed to talk in a whisper."

"Give. Me. It. Back." Tirren hissed in a whisper, putting emphasis on each word. Savron paused to consider her demand. Tirren made another swipe at the book, but Savron neatly evaded her.

"I'll tell you what. I can see you badly want to read this book. So here's the deal. You give me a kiss, and I will give you the book back. Fair?" Savron leaned forward, puckering his lips. Tirren punched him in the gut. Savron's breath left him in a whoosh, and he dropped the book onto the table. Tirren snatched it up before he could recover it.

"Ass, you made me lose my page." Tirren grumbled, as Savron gasped for breath, holding his front paws to his midsection. Beside them, Sleet and Igneous suppressed chuckles of amusement. Igneous passed Sleet a small silver coin.

"Good call." Igneous whispered to the scrawny dragon.

"What was that for?" Savron wheezed to the indifferent earth dragoness.

"Oh like you don't know Sav." Sleet snickered, slipping the coin into his book pouch. Tirren huffed and retreated away from the purple and started looking for her page.

"Come on Sav. You know you deserved that." Igneous scolded, laughter colouring his words. Savron sighed dramatically.

"She assaulted me for no reason! I should declare a duel!"

Everyone, with the exception of Tirren burst into chuckles.

"Hey look, it's New Snow." Savron pointed to Lyrith, who took a seat nearby.

"He has been here every day since he got here." Igneous commented. They watched him as he open up his book, take out a quill and some sheets of paper from his satchel and start reading

"Yeah, after classes end, he comes here to read." Sleet agreed.

"He must be a total book worm. Hey, maybe you two could get along, eh Sleet?" Savron chuckled, nudging the small ice dragon. Sleet shook his head.

"Um, I don't think so. He goes to the gym after he is done here. I don't think our interests are the same. And besides," Sleet gulped as he watched Lyrith lift his stone table to get at a paper he dropped. "he kind of scares me."

Savron shrugged. "I guess you're right there. He has made enemies with more than half of the students. I can understand why you would be afraid of a guy with that kind of attitude."

"Actually I am kind of glad he is sticking up for himself." Tirren cut in, finally looking up from her book. "He is giving the bullies here a hard time of it. They can't get a word in without having their pride shoved down their throats and pulled out their rump. And besides," Tirren giggled, glancing over at Lyrith as he worked, "Torch and his gang are starting to lose face. If they can't even scare and Albino, why should anyone else be afraid of them?"

The four grinned as they remembered the many occasions where Lyrith had humiliated some of Torch's cronies. Suddenly Savron raised his quill into the air and whispered.

"To Lyrith, may he continue to ridicule our enemies and wound their pride!"

* * *

"Just a few more seconds my lady! You can do it!" An average sized dark blue dragon cheered as a black shadow dragoness raced around the track panting. The dark blue dragon was speckled with puffy white cloud shapes that showed up sharply against his scales. He had no horns, but rather what appeared to be thick spiny tendrils that draped around his head like hair. The gym was sparsely populated by students, all of whom were busy exercising. From weightlifting, to climbing, to running, everyone was working.

The small hour glass beside the white patterned dragon ran out and the drake gave a shrill whistle. The shadow dragoness staggered to a halt. She was slim, but lacked much of the curves that many dragons deemed attractive. Her head was topped by a crown of seven horns, which curved elegantly out in all directions. Her underbelly was a dark green and her eyes magenta.

She panted as she stumbled over to the nearest water trough and drank deeply. The dark blue and white dragon padded over to the exhausted dragoness and handed her a strip of jerky. She snatched it up and chewed on it eagerly.

"Remind me again Vash why I have to do these silly exercises? They are killing me!" The dragoness complained, finishing the jerky.

"They are not silly and they are not killing you." Vash retorted, handing her another piece of jerky which she snatched out of his paws. "Father told me to ensure you got your physical exercise in addition to your studying done. He needs you healthy and whole."

"Fine! And would you stop calling me my lady. My name is Danrah! **Danrah**! And you are my brother…"

"Adoptive brother." Vash corrected Danrah as she rambled.

"Whatever! You are my brother, and you can call me by name. Why do we have to go through this conversation every other day?" Danrah snapped irritably. She stormed over to another section of the gym, long bars protruded from the walls, just high enough to be gripped by a student standing on their hind legs.

Danrah clamped one of the cushioned bars in her jaws and heaved her lower body from the ground. Holding onto the pole with her jaws and forepaws, she started curling her lower body upwards, and then letting it rest back down. Vash ambled over to her as she worked. When he reached her he spoke.

"My l-Danrah, you are the princess of all the shadow dragon clans. I cannot address you in any other way in public. To do so would be to demean your position."

Danrah glared at him and dropped to the floor, working her jaw to loosen the muscles.

"Exactly, I am a princess, and you are my brother. A **prince**. We are equals. I understand that you are nervous about disobeying father's instructions to guide and protect me. But that does not change the fact that you are my brother! So treat me like your sister because I am." Danrah cuffed Vash upside the head.

"Tag you're it!" She shouted, and took off down the track. Vash grinned, and massaged his head before taking off after her. She was faster, but Vash had a trick up his sleeve. Through his fangs he started whistling lowly, feeling the magic flowing through him. Ahead of him, Danrah stumbled and stopped.

"No fair." She yawned, as Vash tagged her back. He chortled.

"You never set the rules, you just said, 'tag you're it' and ran off."

"Just because you're a dream dragon doesn't mean that you can go and put me to sleep!" Danrah tried suppressing another yawn, and failed miserably.

"Come on, let's take a break." Vash suggested, guiding Danrah over to the side of the gym. They sat on one of the mattresses, and watched the proceedings around them. A flash of white caught Danrah's eye, and she turned to watch Lyr. He was tying small weights to his paws and around his midsection. He stood before a large climbing wall.

The exercise he was participating in was fairly simple, climb to the top. There were no harnesses or straps for this exercise, as dragons had wings, and therefore no need for such contraptions. There were however, several beds of pillows at the bottom, just in case. The weights the Albino was using were to increase the difficulty of climbing. While at first, they may seem to be no more than a nuisance, they would quickly prove to be very burdensome.

Danrah nudged her brother to catch his attention.

"What do you think of him?" She asked. Vash examined Lyrith as he started climbing, easily scaling the first stretch of the wall.

"I don't think you should associate with the likes of him, my la-Danrah." He said after a moment of silence.

"Why?"

"I have seen him fight. He acts like a beast, an animal. And he is no better outside of the training ring either. He is vulgar, rude and inconsiderate of others."

"And he is a white. Right, Vash?" Danrah inquired coolly.

"I never said that." Vash replied indignantly. Danrah just stared at him.

"You cannot judge others solely by appearance, Vash. Father took you in when everyone else would have left you for dead. Your own parents abandoned you when you were young because they were afraid of you. I think you and him are not as different as you would like to believe."

"How could you possibly know that!" Vash grumbled irritated at her scolding. Danrah glanced up at Lyrith who was most of the way up the wall. His scars showed up clearly, even from this distance.

"It's just a hunch, but I believe that that is the case."

A loud bell tolled, and the two glanced upwards towards the sound. The activity in the gym ceased.

"I guess it is supper time." Vash commented evenly. "Time passes so fast here."

As one the students moved towards the exit, putting the equipment back along the way. Lyrith dropped down from the top of the wall, and glided down to the ground. He struggled out of the weights tied to him and then jogged off after the students, not far behind Danrah.

The gym was relatively close to the student kitchen, and it didn't take long for the students to reach it. They poured into the kitchen and lined up at the buffet.

Danrah took a mound of savoury beef, lamb and deer and slapped it onto her plate, smothering it all in gravy. Vash took a similar meal, only half of his sister's portion. Behind them, Lyrith took slices of meat from all the selections, and then collected the bowl of jam he requested with each meal. Danrah and Vash watched the Albino take a seat at his usual table in the corner of the room. The shadow princess and her brother sat down at a table in the center of the room, and started eating.

The rest of the student body trickled in and lined up at the buffet, picking out their meals. Danrah stopped eating as Torch's gang entered; they shoved past several of the students and took their place in the line. Vash noticed the direction of her gaze and followed it. She was staring at the topaz dragoness who stood at the back of the line, right behind Granite.

Danrah waited until Voltlyn had picked her meal and left the buffet before calling out to her.

"Hey Voltlyn! Want to sit with us?"

The topaz dragoness stopped in her tracks and stared at Danrah.

"I…" She whispered, wavering, and then glanced over to Torch, who had sat down at the table opposite them. He raised an eye ridge and pointed to the cushion seat beside him. Voltlyn swallowed.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." She whispered in a rushed tone. Voltlyn hurried over to Torch and sat down beside him. Torch grinned victoriously at Danrah, who snarled. Vash frowned.

"I just don't understand why she hangs out with them. She seems nice enough. Why not two days ago I saw her helping Aiel out with the dishes, something no one in Torch's gang would ever do."

"I know." Danrah agreed, returning to her meal. "I was hoping to get to know her better. She should not mingle with that crowd." Danrah paused to stuff a slice of lamb into her muzzle.

"And there is something else odd about them." Vash whispered to his sister. From across the table, Torch was laughing uproariously at a joke from Thunder. All of his friends joined in except for Voltlyn, who sat beside the red dragon nervously, fidgeting with her meal.

"The way he treats her, like she is a possession. I just don't like it."

"I noticed." Danrah whispered back, casting Torch a disgusted glance. "But why she would tolerate it is beyond me." The shadow princess finished, stuffing more gravy smothered beef into her muzzle.

"I am just glad you don't associate with the likes of him Danrah. He may be a prince, and therefore equal rank with you…us. But in my eyes, he is little more than a thug. He is a tyrant, while you use your powers for the good of others." Vash dug into his meal with renewed gusto. Danrah smiled at him appreciatively.

"_I just hope,"_ Danrah thought to herself as she finished her meal and daintily wiped her muzzle with a kerchief. _"That father does not marry me off to a dragon like Torch."_

* * *

"Boss!" A small, lean ice dragon called to Torch as he ran through the gardens. The young drake skidded to a halt in front of Torch, panting for breath. The fire dragon prince glanced down at the interruption and scowled.

They sat in the gardens at the base of the Temple. Towering trees shaded the fire dragon from the afternoon sun; flowers bloomed in beds by the stepping stone path. Above him, Wintra lay relaxing in the boughs of the tree, watching the proceedings below. Not far away Voltlyn was wandering around the garden examining the flowers and plant life.

Thunder lay by a pond, chuckling as he toyed with a small squirrel. The giant lightening dragon had the creature trapped. Every time it would try and scurry for cover Thunder would use his wings or tail to cut off its escape and would swat it with a paw.

"Yes what is it?" Torch asked, letting his gaze roam back to watching Thunder play with his victim.

"The white has been insulting us again." The small ice dragon whined. Torch rolled his eyes.

"And why should I care?"

"And by us I also mean you, boss."

Torch's eyes widened in surprise. "What did it say?"

"Well, first he… it said you were a coward to not come for him yourself." The dragon started, and swallowed hard, his eyes full of fear. Torch frowned at him. "And then it said…"

The young dragon paused to regain control of himself. He leaned forward and whispered into Torch's ear frill. As the young dragon whispered, Torch's expression became outraged. His pupils became angry slits and flames flickered from his nostrils.

"HE SAID **WHAT**!" Torch roared, smoke billowing from his muzzle. He raised a paw and struck the ice drake across the face, sending him sprawling. Torch rose to his paws and raged across the gardens, black smoke trailing behind him.

Wintra dropped from her branch, and glared at the young dragon frostily, who sat on his haunches rubbing his face. She huffed, and turned away following after Torch, her tail blade flicked across the young dragon's muzzle, and he yelped in pain from the nick.

"I WILL NOT TAKE ANYMORE FROM THAT RUNT OF A LIZARD!" Torch howled, managing enough control to refrain from breathing fire. "HE HAS GONE TOO FAR THIS TIME!"

"What is it Torch?" Wintra asked worriedly. Torch rounded on her, and the Queen of Ice took a step back in fear he would strike her as well. Torch shivered and allowed his anger to dwindle to smoldering embers.

"No." He whispered. "I will not rise to his bait."

"What did the freak say?" Wintra asked, stepping close to Torch, wrapping her tail in with his.

"I will not repeat it." Torch growled, but let her hold him. "But suffice to say, that if he had said it in my presence, I would not have been satisfied until he had spent a **week** in the infirmary."

Wintra gulped. She wondered what the white could have possibly said that would warrant such a violent response.

"He must be taught humility." Torch declared, resuming his pacing. The small ice dragon had left the gardens, and Torch felt disappointed; he could have used a punching bag at that moment.

"He thinks he is safe from harm because we cannot fight on Temple grounds. But he is sadly mistaken."

A loud belch caught Torch's attention, just as a large shadow fell over him. He glanced up at Thunder and a wicked smile crossed his features. The gargantuan yellow dragon spat up a hunk of fur and grinned, his feral yellow eyes glowing.

"It has been awhile since I have gotten to play, Torch." Thunder rumbled, his eager smile matching the reds. Torch nodded his head, a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"Then why don't you go have some fun with our Albino friend…"

* * *

It was growing dark when Lyrith returned to his room. The interior had become less barren and more personal. The blue cushions were heaped into one corner and surrounded by half-read books. His desk was scattered with paper and homework assignments Lyrith was finishing. The white had used the last of his savings that he had hoarded for so long to buy some new furniture. A small green mattress now lay by the window; the foot stool sat beside it was used as a table. Two sunglobes now stood around the room, one on his desk and the other beside his bed.

The clear orbs were supported by metal stalks that allowed the devices to stand easily on a flat surface. These interesting objects absorbed sunlight, and retained the energy until a signal was given. A common signal was two sharp claps, or a command word. Once the command was given, the orb would emit a soft light that could last for hours.

Lyrith shut the door and yawned. He was still getting used to all of the work and expectation from his teachers, and was finding it difficult to keep up. It had not been all that long ago when he had been trapped in an endless cycle of work, sleep, work, sleep, with the only excitement being the occasional brawl.

At the smelters, he had only been expected to complete his job. There had been no ambition, no drive to succeed. But here at the Temple, Lyrith had to work his tail off to keep up. To get good grades and show everyone he was worthy. The work, the excitement, and the strain of learning so much was exhausting, both physically and mentally. He loved it.

Lyr padded over to his desk and dumped his satchel of work out onto his desk. He sorted through the papers and sheets and then piled them into two stacks: Homework and notes.

Lyr reached over with a paw and opened one of the drawers of the desk. He pulled out his journal and placed it in the middle of his desk. With a flick of his tail, Lyrith shut the drawer with a snap. The signal given, the sunglobe on his desk turned on, illuminating his room in soft light. Lyr started to settle down when a slight disturbance stopped him. A brush of air, a slight movement in the shadows.

"Nice room you've got here, Snowy. I thought you would have lived in a cave." A deep voice rumbled from beside the Albino.

Lyrith leapt to the side and whirled to face the intruder. Thunder stepped out of the shadows, slipping his bulk out from behind Lyr's bed. Thunder was huge. Lyrith had thought Bould had been huge, but Thunder would have easily towered over the moronic earth dragon. Lyrith snarled at the massive dragon as he loped over to Lyrith, a lazy smile cresting his features.

"_How in the name of the ancestors did I not notice him?"_ Lyrith thought, shocked at the dragon's appearance. "What are you doing in my room?" Lyrith demanded aloud of the lightning dragon. Thunder chuckled.

"Checking out your room. I am curious to know what you did to get here."

Lyrith blinked in surprise. "What?"

"What did you or your parents do to get you sorry waste of scales into the Temple? Aiel and Twar's daddy had to pull all sorts of strings to get them to **serve** here. Who did you fuck to get to learn here? Inferna?"

Lyrith barred his fangs in a feral snarl. "What did you say, you yellow shit?"

Thunder smirked, seeing he had hit a nerve. "Oh, you did, didn't you? I didn't know she was into animals."

Lyrith howled in anger, and hurled himself at Thunder. "NEVER SPEAK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!"

Thunder moved incredibly fast for a dragon his size. He avoided Lyr's reckless lunge and slammed the small white into the ground with a sweep of his tail. Lyrith grunted in pain, but rolled to his paws and dodged another blow from Thunder. Ducking underneath a swipe, Lyrith rammed Thunder in the stomach. The breath left Thunder in a whoosh and he took a step back.

Lyr smashed Thunder's face with a taloned paw and the yellow tumbled to the ground. The smaller white pounced on the prone drake and began striking Thunder with clenched paws, hitting everywhere he could reach. Thunder shoved his legs under Lyr and pushed hard. Lyrith was sent flying across the room and crashed into a nearby wall.

Lyr gave as short gasp of pain at the impact, and struggled to his paws. Thunder got up slowly, spitting out a glob of blood from his muzzle.

"I can see how you got both Droth and Granite now, Milky. But I am worth five of them, easily. At this rate you won't be able to chip my horns."

"Bring it, Sparky." Lyrith growled, jagged fangs flashing in the soft light. They both roared and charged the other. Sparks of electricity crackled around Thunder's horns, and Lyrith's red eyes burned with rage, iron hard muscles rippling.

A powerful gust of wind blew the paws out from under the battling students, and they yelped in surprise as they crashed to the floor.

"What is going on here!" Bellowed a harsh rasping voice from the door. Lyrith glanced up, trying to focus his spinning vision. His gaze settled on the grey scales of Cadence. The professor's one eye burned with rage as he watched from the now open door. Lyrith groaned and let his head fall back to the floor. Behind the instructor, a crowd of students and servants had assembled, watching the scene.

"I am taking a peaceful walk down to the staff meeting, and I find you two making an obscene racket. Keeping everyone from their rightful rest and disobeying the non-combat rules of our school. You two are coming with me."

* * *

"Hey Inferna, something has been bugging me for a while, and I have never gotten around to asking you this, but will you answer me a question?" Spyro asked the Fire Guardian as the staff convened in the council hall for their meeting. Inferna looked up at Spyro as he sat down; she had been playing with some marbles on the table. She picked them up and slipped them into her purse.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well, I was wondering who taught Lyrith to fight?" The purple asked, settling down beside her.

"Yeth, I have been wondering that mythelf." Aideen, the chubby fire dragon teacher added. Around them, several other members added their own agreement.

"Well the reason I have been wondering." Spyro continued hurriedly, not wanting to be interrupted again. "Is that any teacher who could and would teach an Albino that level of combat must be exceptional. Accepting of any colour, and a masterful teacher, and we could use another such teacher in the Temple."

To their surprise, Inferna laughed. She chucked heartily for a few moments before sobering.

"Oh, yes, he has had a good teacher, but you won't be able to recruit this one."

"Why not?" Cynder asked, glancing over at Inferna in puzzlement. "Who was his teacher?"

"His teacher is called life." Inferna replied, grinning at their puzzled expressions. "You see, everything he knows, he knows from experience, he wasn't taught anything. Reading, flying, his fighting style, everything you see in him, he has learned by himself."

"What!" Spyro cried, taken aback. Inferna laughed at the stunned expressions of her colleagues.

"In fact, until now he has never even attended a school before."

"You have to be pulling our tails." Cynder chuckled, not entirely convinced.

"I am beginning to doubt your sanity, Inferna." Cyril said, ridicule in his voice. "First you bring in an Albino, and then you tell us that, despite his skill, he has never before been trained. What were you thinking when you brought him here?"

"Alright." Terrador cut in through the conversation. "If what you say is true, then I must ask, where did you find him? And in what environment was he raised where he was forced to acquire such combat expertise?"

The rest of the staff agreed in a chorus of challenges. Inferna shook her head.

"I found him in an orphanage in Warfang. From what I know of his life, he has been subject to all manner of torment because of his scales. He fought for survival every day, defended himself against bullies and thugs. He had to work hard at a young age just to live. He had to learn, and do it fast to survive."

"I see." Terrador murmured.

"That's so sad." Cynder mumbled, resting her head on Spyro's shoulder. He nodded in agreement.

"_I lived in a harsh world for much of my life as well."_ Spyro contemplated, as the room fell into a saddened silence. _"But that was in the wilderness during a time of war. He lived in a city during a time of peace. A place everyone is supposed to be safe, and yet he wasn't… Why?"_

A sudden stomping pulled them from their reverie and back to reality. Cadence stormed into the chamber, followed by Lyrith and Thunder.

"I found these two fighting in the white's room." Cadence growled, gesturing to the two as they stopped. Lyrith gazed around the room. Its stained glass windows were dark against the night sky, and the illumination from the chandelier above them cast deep shadows around the room. The colossal stone table in the center of the room, and seated around it was the collective staff of the Temple.

Spyro's gaze wandered over to Lyrith, in the dim light, he could make out the multitude of scars etched across his body. Realisation dawned on him; the countless scars that covered the Albino were not just from fights, and most definitely not accidents. For a moment he contemplated on intervening with the coming punishment, he could see many of the other staff considering the same.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Cadence asked, turning to face the duo. Thunder straightened and spoke first.

"I came to visit whitey here, and he hit me. Something I said must have set him off." Thunder boomed, his rumbling voice echoing across the room.

"Not true." Lyrith growled. "Everything you said set me off." The white turned to face the staff. "He entered my room uninvited and provoked me into action, I wasn't going to stand by while he…"

Cadence turned back to the staff and cut the rest of Lyrith's argument off.

"There you have it. Neither denies the charges, what is your decree?"

Terrador shifted uncomfortably, looking between the two. He sighed.

"Under these circumstances a duel between students is necessary. We cannot have you two battling out your frustrations in our hallowed halls. Vent your anger in a fight tomorrow, is this acceptable?"

Spyro managed to force his thoughts of rebellion out of his head. He could see that Terrador was struggling with the decision as well. After Inferna's speech, no one wanted to make the Albino fight. The response they received put down any doubts they had.

"I accept!" Both shouted in unison, glaring at the other. Terrador sighed.

"So be it. Tomorrow, after classes are finished, you will duel to put down your quarrel."

Thunder smirked at the announcement, and suddenly Lyrith had a sinking suspicion that this had been the yellow lightning dragon's plan all along. He tightened his jaw, and grinned back.

"_Whatever dirty, malicious game you are trying to play with me, Sparky, know that I am going to play back, and not by your rules."_ Lyrith thought, feeling anticipation at fighting the drake. He would prove once and for all, that he was and equal to any of the dragons here. Terrador cleared his throat and motioned them away.

"Good night, and rest well, you are going to need it."

Characters created by Dardarax:

Lyrith

Aiel and Twar

Danrah and Vash

Savron's gang (Savron, Igneous, Tirren, Sleet)

Torch's gang (Torch, Thunder, Wintra, Voltlyn, Droth, Granite)

Temple staff (Inferna, Aideen, Cadence, Darius)

This was fun to write, it may have only been an introductory chapter for the next one, but it was still entertaining. Pretty much the last of my cast has been brought into the picture now. There are just three more characters to introduce.

I am really looking forward to the next chapter. Every scene is fun to write, and an epic battle will ensue between the _powerless_ and the _powerful_. It will take a little longer than normal, as I will be working on a new project, alongside Dark Legacy. So have patience, and you will be rewarded with a long and exciting instalment. Thanks for reading.


	12. Respect

Chapter 12. Respect

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other place or character belonging to the Spyro franchise. And if by some stroke of misfortune, I am to become a ballerina by trade, I will call myself the Cyan Twinkie for reasons that should not be recounted. However, a number of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below._

The sun was high in the sky over Warfang. The streets bustled with crowds, and vendors shouted over the din to be heard. Off to one far corner of the metropolis, a large three story building squatted in the midst of a scattering of small, ramshackle houses. A slightly battered sign reading _The Dragon's Glade_ hung over the dual doors of the orphanage.

Out back behind the building, a host of dragonlings pranced in the garden, playing with all manner of toys. Lyrith peeked out his head behind the back door of the orphanage, his red eyes gleaming with wonder. Four small horns poked out of his head and a third set were starting to grow in. They all pointed backwards like claws. His small, pudgy white body was a brilliant snow white, unmarred by any scratches or scars.

His muzzle fell open in a playful grin as he caught sight of the toy box at one corner of the garden playground. His fangs were a milky white and his pink tongue poked out as he raced over to the bin. His paws and head were slightly overlarge for his body, and his gallop was often interrupted by stumbles, but he made it there without falling. Lyrith skidded to a halt and looked into the box. He gave a little gasp of glee, for inside the box a trove of colourful toys, balls, blocks and springy mechanical things lay. But the Albino's red eyes focused instead on a small wooden box; painted on its surface were images of Spyro, Cynder, and the Guardians.

"No way!" Lyr chirped excitedly. "The Spyro figure set hasn't been taken yet!"

Lyr glanced around nervously, half expecting an older dragonling to claim the box. Seeing none he reached down and hoisted the box up in his small jaws. He hauled it over to his favourite tree and sat down. He anxiously opened the lid and found all of the figures inside. Spyro, Cynder, Cyril, Volteer, Inferna, Flame, and Ember. All were carved from sturdy wood and painted carefully to the exact detail of the heroes.

For a moment, Lyr was lost for what to do with the treasure. He had never gotten the figures before, what should he do with them? The answer came to him in a flash; he would play out the final scene from the second resurrection book. Occasionally a story teller would drop by the orphanage and tell the children there a story. Lyr's favourite was the second resurrection, which had ended a year before he had hatched. He didn't really understand that much of it, the whole resurrection thing made no sense to him. But the ending had been burned into his mind, and the young white never tired of hearing it.

Setting the figures up to his satisfaction took only a few seconds. Then he began to play out the scene.

The heroes had Malefor, who was a large rock Lyr had picked up, surrounded. The Dark Master's minions lay defeated around him, his lieutenant, the dreaded Night Talon slain at the foot of his dark fortress.

"Your reign of terror and destruction ends here, Malefor!" Spyro declared in Lyrith's high pitched voice.

"When we last fought, Spyro, I was considerably weakened from controlling the Destroyer." Malefor boomed. Lyr did his best to imitate the story teller's dark tone with his squeaky one. "But now I am at my full strength! And you have no hope of defeating me!"

"Bring it." Cynder hissed, and the fight began.

Lyrith banged the figures together to simulate fighting, he did so gently, not wanting to damage the precious figures, and made small sound effects as he played.

One by one the Guardians fell, overwhelmed by the Dark Master's might. Ember, Volteer, Cyril, Flame, Inferna, Terrador, finally only Spyro and Cynder remained, badly wounded from the vicious battle. But the Dark Master was also showing signs of weakening, the fierce conflict against so many powerful dragons taking its toll.

"You have lost young dragons. Surrender to me now, and I will make your deaths quick." Malefor snarled. Spyro scoffed.

"Can you not see that this is over, Malefor? Your armies have been shattered, your minions slain! You have lost!"

"Armies can be raised, and minions replaced." Malefor declared. "And even should I fall, my Legacy will destroy you and your people. It is not I who has lost, dear Spyro; it is you, who have lost."

"As long as I stand by my beliefs and those I love, nothing, not you, nor your Legacy will bring harm to the innocent!" Spyro roared. He and Cynder reared up and prepared for their final attack. Malefor too, gathered up all of his power to destroy the fools who had dare challenge him. Spyro opened his eyes and…

A paw struck Lyrith across the head. The small white cried out and dropped the figures of Spyro and Cynder he had been holding. He clutched his head in his paws and whimpered through teary eyes.

"Who said you could play with these toys, stupid?" A snarly voice growled by Lyrith, and he looked up and blinked. Three older dragonlings of about eight glared down at him, one of the three, a lightning dragon, was picking up the figures.

"But… I got them first." Lyr whimpered, scrambling to his paws.

"So? You don't deserve these toys. These are for real dragons, like us." The leader, a plump wind dragon hissed.

"But I am a real dragon."

"No, you're just a freak. Freaks don't get to play with these toys."

Having picked up all of the figures and put them back into the box, they started to move off.

"Hey! I got them first, give them…"

The wind dragon turned and hit Lyr again, knocking him back. Lyr sat stunned as he watched the three go with his toys, laughing among themselves. He put a paw to his muzzle, it hurt. Tears came to his eyes unbidden. Sniffing he ran across the field, stumbling past the other orphan dragonlings.

He reached the other side of the playground with tears streaming from his red eyes. He ran up to an adult dragoness and buried his muzzle in her leg, embracing her.

"Nana Talbie! Jaheel and his friends hit me and stole my toys!" Lyr sobbed, hugging her leg tighter. Talbie was a thick bodied earth dragoness, an earthly green in colour. She glanced down at Lyrith, who was weeping into her leg, his small white body trembling.

"Not now Lyrith, I am busy." She scolded, turning back to setting up the snack table.

"But…"

"Not now!" Talbie extracted her leg from Lyrith's grip and pushed him gently away. Lyrith looked up at her and sniffed, his muzzle forming a small pout. Talbie ignored him. Lyrith turned away, his wings and head drooped and his shoulders slumped. Lyr padded away slowly, the frustrated ache of sadness swelling up inside of him.

"Nana Talbie, I pricked my paw on a splinter again."

Lyrith turned and saw a small pink dragoness nudging the nana with her head. Talbie turned to her and gasped.

"Oh my dear! I am so sorry! Here let me kiss it better." Talbie leaned down, plucked the tiny splinter from the dragonling's paw, and planted a delicate kiss on the tiny wound.

The ache in his chest swelled until Lyr was sure his heart would burst. The tears surged forth again and he turned and ran.

"_Why doesn't anyone care? Am I really not a real dragon?"_ Lyr thought as he ran over to a bed of bushes and struggled inside. He lay in the shady cover of his hiding spot and wept, his small chubby body shook with sobs. It took him several minutes to regain control of his tears, wiping his puffy red eyes he glanced up and caught sight of Jaheel and his buddies sitting in the sand box, playing with the figures.

Suddenly a surge of rage built up in the small Albino. His tear streaked face scrunched up in anger. He stood up abruptly and left the bushes, stalking over to the bullies.

"Jaheel! Give me back my toys!" Lyr shouted. The bullies and a few of the other orphans looked at him as he came to a stop in front of Jaheel. The wind dragon growled and got up out of the sandbox.

"They're not your toys, squirt." He snarled approaching Lyr. Lyrith repressed a shiver of fear at the bully's angry expression.

"I got them first. They're mine!" Lyr growled back, hoping he didn't sound frightened.

"Well they're ours now, so get lost!"

"Not… Not until I get my toys back." Lyrith stammered, suddenly realising it may have been a bad idea to confront the bullies. Jaheel's two cronies, the lightning and another wind had also put down their toys and came to stand beside their leader.

"Well, if you won't leave until you get them back, and we won't give them to you, I guess we will just make you leave." Jaheel growled. He and his companions circled the younger, smaller white. Lyrith quaked in fear as they hissed and struck.

* * *

Lyrith woke with a snarl of fear and rage. He rolled out of his blue cushion bed, scattering the pillows. When he hit the floor, Lyr took a fighting stance, arching his back and barring his fangs, eyes burning with rage. He blinked in surprise when he found no bullies attacking him. He sat down on his haunches.

"That's right," Lyr whispered, covering his eyes with his forepaws. "I live at the Temple now, not the orphanage."

He laughed a low chuckle, his heart was racing. His blood pumped full of adrenaline from the memories of the sudden attack of those bullies. Lyrith took a deep breath to steady himself, and then scanned his room. The sun's light washed through the windows and shone over the furniture. Everything had been put back into place after Thunder's sudden attack in his room.

The memory of the massive lightning dragon brought a sudden smile to Lyr's muzzle.

"Oh yeah, I get to kick that self-righteous, yellow snob's ass today in front of the entire school."

Figuring it was too late in the morning to go back to sleep, Lyr trudged over to his door and slipped out into the hallway. The corridor was empty, all of the students and servants still asleep in their rooms. Lyrith stretched and yawned, then set off at a trot down the hall. He followed the twisting pathway until he found the nearest landing pad. Stepping onto the stone platform, Lyr looked down. Far below he could see the gardens and paths that wound around the base of the Temple. Lyrith's keen gaze spotted a small pool in one of the gardens, its surface gleaming in the dawn light. The morning air was crisp, yet warm, and a breeze tickled Lyrith's white scales as he stepped off the platform and into open air.

He plummeted down, windows and statues whipping past him as he fell. Lyr's eyes watered from the intense wind pressure as he fell, a huge grin plastered to his face. As the garden forests rushed up to meet him, Lyrith unfurled his wings and swooped gracefully, meters over the tree tops. He sped over the garden canopy towards the pool, laughing at the thrilling rush he had just experienced.

Lyr slowed as he reached the pool and hovered a dozen feet above its surface for a moment. Then he dived into the water, sending up a spray. The icy chill of the pond banished any lingering sleepiness from Lyr's mind as he surfaced, gasping for breath. Lyr paddled over to the pond edge and climbed out, his scaled body dripping wet. Lyrith shook himself dry and glanced up. His fall had taken him twelve stories down to the base of the Temple.

Lyrith smirked and turned into the forest, padding over the stone walkways and through the gardens. The flowers of the gardens were opening their petals in the dawn light, washing Lyrith with colour from every angle. The trees swayed in the gentle breeze, leaves rustling. Lyrith breathed in the earthly aroma of nature, basking in its serenity. It was in total contrast with the sensations of the city.

The great stone jungle of Warfang was always rushing, its people constantly moving in a state of panic. Smells of people, smoke, waste and sweat cloyed in one's nostrils, choking them. Here, out in the wilderness, or the small portion of wilderness preserved at the Temple, everything moved slower. It moved to the slow, steady beat of the world, there was no rush in the forest; everything was calm, hurried along only by the rising sun and the small animals. Lyr wandered for a good half an hour amidst the Temple gardens, drinking in the sights.

Lyrith rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks, stunned at the sight before him. By one of the ponds, a young slim grey dragon lay, humming lowly to himself, braiding a wreath of flowers together. The dragon continued to hum, oblivious to the Albino watching him. The grey slipped the wreath around his neck, and examined his reflection. The dragon's six silver grey horns glittered in the morning sunlight.

Curious, Lyr took several steps forward, to get a better view. The sudden tolling of the Temple bells snapped the grey out of his trance, and he glanced up and caught sight of Lyrith approaching. Both froze. The grey stared at Lyr with turquoise eyes for a moment, a light blush crossing his features. Then he bolted from his sitting position, abandoning the wreath of flowers. Lyr watched him vanish into the undergrowth, still trying to puzzle out exactly what he had just witnessed. Another tooling of the bell tore him from his reverie. Lyrith sighed and shook the thoughts from his head. The white turned and took off, heading for his morning meal.

* * *

"Now class, before I teach you the next technique I must remind you or the most important aspect of the fire element." Inferna announced over the buzz of conversation. The class immediately fell silent, returning their attention to their instructor. The class consisted solely of fire dragons, from orange to red to pink; they all listened attentively to the Fire Guardian.

The room was a wide open training ground with a packed dirt floor. Huge chimneys reached up out of the ceiling, so the smoke from the fire breathers could escape. Inferna sat in the middle of the scorched earth practice ring; the stone pillars that surrounded it were charred black.

"Fire is the most destructive of all elemental magic. It devours everything, spreading from one place to another. Fire is alive; it eats, and grows, and eats. It will continue eating until there is nothing left, and then it will die. Fire is the embodiment of destruction, and as fire dragons it is our duty to keep this in mind at all times."

Inferna glanced around the room, all of the students were waiting for her to finish. When Inferna went through this speech she always intended to teach them something cool. Inferna smirked.

"And this is why this technique will be vital to learn. In everything from a dangerous environment, to group battles, it will make itself an invaluable part of your battle style. Unlike most of what you have been taught, this technique does not rely purely on destruction."

The class groaned in disappointment.

"Do not get me wrong. This move is still very useful and over time, devastating. But you must also have techniques that will not just destroy everything in sight. If your friend is being attacked and was losing, and the only magic you knew would kill them too. You might as well let them die. This technique is useful for just that reason. It is called Ash Smog."

Inferna turned away from the class and walked over to one of the pillars. Pulling the lever hidden in the stone a straw dummy appeared in the center of the ring.

"In combat, Ash Smog has a number of uses. It can be used as a smoke screen for quick get-a-ways. It can be used to disorient an opponent long enough for you to get a good hit in. And, under the right circumstances, can be lethal on its own." Inferna stepped into the center of the ring. The dummy leapt at Inferna, who ducked the blow. The crowd of students watched, transfixed as Inferna dodged another strike, and sucked in a deep breath. The class waited for her to unleash her attack, but she didn't. Instead she kept the breath in, her throat seemed to constrict as if she was holding back from retching.

Finally, after dodging several more blows from the dummy, she reared up and exhaled. A shimmering black stream of ash and smoke billowed out from her mouth directly into the dummy's wooden face. It reeled backwards, swinging its club wildly. Inferna easily sidestepped the wild swings and took its head off with a powerful sweep of her taloned paw. She turned back to face the students who clapped at the display, and bowed.

"As you can see, Ash Smog is highly useful in melee combat; blinding an opponent so that you can make a lethal blow is the base behind this technique. However, had the dummy been a real, live creature, and I had chosen to retreat, it would have died within minutes. Can anyone tell me why?"

The class fell silent to ponder the question. It was Torch who answered first.

"Because the ash and smoke would have been inhaled, causing suffocation." He declared smugly. Inferna applauded.

"Very good! But that is only half the reason. Anyone else?"

Torch's face fell, and from the back of the class, Savron snorted at his embarrassed expression. Inferna heard him and smiled.

"How about you Savron. Do you have the answer?"

The entire class snickered at Savron's face as he blushed.

"Well… Isn't it obvious?" Savron said, trying to regain his composure. Inferna beckoned him to continue.

"The ash and smoke are superheated." Savron explained to the surprise of his peers. "When you stalled you built up the flames inside of your body. The smoke and ash produced become hotter the longer you held back. When you released the attack into the dummies face, it would have been inhaled and the ash would have burned away the eyes and lungs, killing it."

Everyone blinked in shock at his answer.

"Why Savron!" Inferna exclaimed delightedly. "That is the most intellectual thing I have ever heard you say!"

"Thanks?" Savron muttered dubiously.

"Savron is correct." Inferna continued, and started pacing around the room. "The build-up of flames in your body produces ash and smoke, which in turn are heated up from the flames. The longer you hold the attack in, the hotter it gets…"

Igneous turned to Savron, impressed at his response.

"Where did you learn that, Sav?" He inquired of the purple. Savron gave his crimson friend a level glare.

"Igneous, I have been studying for two weeks now. My parents lock me up in my room, and force me to study every day after classes. Or did you forget I am still grounded?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Igneous apologised.

"… must suppress the flames in your throat while you build up the attack. Otherwise it will come out a delayed fire breath. In order to do this, you must push the smoke up into your throat and force the flames down to your…"

"Hey Sav." Burnam whispered, turning around to face the purple. "Did you hear that New Snow is going up against Thunder today?"

"Yeah, who hasn't?" Savron muttered back, returning his gaze to Inferna's lecture. "I actually feel sorry for him. He has no idea what he has gotten himself into."

"What do you mean?" Burnam asked puzzled.

"Hmm? Oh right, you weren't at the Temple the last time someone duelled Thunder."

"…and as my old master used to say: if it feels like you're going to hurl, then you're doing it right." Inferna finished to the chuckles of her class.

"Is he really strong?" Burnam asked as he stood up with the class and stepped into the training ring, taking position in front of a practice dummy.

"Frighteningly so." Savron replied stopping beside him.

"It's not that he is strong, Sav." Igneous corrected, stepping up beside the purple. "If it came to raw power, Thunder is only average in ranking."

"Then what make him so scary?" Burnam coughed up a cloud of smoke, nearly choking on his attempt at Ash Smog.

"What makes him so scary is the way he fights, and how he uses his magic." Savron responded, sucking in a breath, fighting to hold the flames back and then breathing out. A simpering cough of sparks and a puff of ash was all that came out. Inferna appeared beside him and flicked the purple's head with a claw.

"Hey!" He growled. "What was that for!"

"No talking. It only breaks your concentration." Inferna turned back to the rest of the class. "Remember, separate the flames and smoke. You are not trying to breathe fire. It is easier if you use your throat muscles. Make it look like you're going to puke."

Savron rubbed at the spot on his head where she had flicked him and turned back to Burnam.

"You will see what I mean soon enough." The purple dragon said nothing more; he turned back to the inanimate training dummy and took another deep breath.

* * *

"Lyrith, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Inferna asked the Albino as they walked through the statue gardens towards the arena.

"For the last time Inferna yes!" Lyr snarled in irritation as he stomped towards the entryway. Inferna watched as the white sped up his pace, his expression a mixture of excitement and anger as they approached the fight ahead.

"You don't have to fight, you know that right?" The Fire Guardian asked as they entered the massive coliseum. The giant entrance hall was packed with students and servants, all waiting in line for the fight ahead. The students stepped out of the way for the Albino and the Guardian as they made their way towards the change rooms. The halls were draped with tapestries depicting epic battles between warriors of all races. Huge statues stood on pedestals, and gazed solemnly down at Lyrith as he marched towards the change rooms.

"I understand that he offended you, but you don't have to fight him to…"

Lyrith rounded on Inferna, fangs barred in anger. Inferna took a step back at his furious response.

"Stop! Just stop! I get that you are trying to protect me, Inferna, but I don't see why. I know what I am doing, and I have survived well enough on my own. So you can STOP BABYING ME!" Lyrith roared. He whirled back around and stormed towards the change rooms.

Inferna sat stunned at his outburst. She finally managed to regain her composure just as Lyr reached the change rooms. Inferna raised a paw as if trying to stop him and cried out.

"Lyr wait! There is something you must know! Thunder has…"

But Lyrith had already disappeared inside the change rooms, the stone door booming shut behind him.

"…A special ability." Inferna whispered sadly. She turned away, disheartened and slowly made her way up the stairs to the viewing platforms.

The inside of the change room was clean and well lit. Racks of armour hug from the walls in every shape and size. Small benches sat in rows off to the sides. Lyrith took a deep breath to calm himself as he gazed around the room. He wished he hadn't yelled at Inferna, she had meant well, but he was a grown drake, he could take care of himself, he always had.

"I will win this!" Lyrith promised in a whisper as he stepped up to one of the racks. He took several minutes to find the best suit of armour for him. A light, protective garb of small chain links that would provide greater mobility at the cost of greater protection.

"_If he can't hit me I won't need extra defense."_ Lyr thought with a grin as he sat down to don the armour. It was harder to put on than he had anticipated. The links bit into his scales and caught on the chips in his hide. Lyr struggled to pull the chain body coat on, it was a tight fit, but he managed it after close to a dozen minutes of tugging.

Lyr sighed and glanced down at the other pieces. A helmet of shining metal, small plates of steel that could be clipped on to the chain mail and a neck guard. The pieces were covered in straps and catches that Lyrith knew would be irritating to handle. He shifted uncomfortably as he picked up the neck guard and proceeded to strap it on.

The chain mail fit snuggly to his frame, and moved easily with his body movements, but the weight was what set him off.

"This armour is irritating." Lyr snarled to himself as he pulled at the straps of his neck guard. "If it wasn't a necessity, I would go in without it."

A cough caught Lyrith's attention, and the white spun around, neck brace dangling half tied on. Aiel stood by the arena door, watching Lyr with a worried expression.

"Um, the battle will start soon… Do you need some help?" Aiel asked uncertainly. Lyrith glanced down at the other half of his armour set, and then back up at Aiel. He sighed.

"Yeah, I do."

The Albino servant padded over and quickly buckled the neck brace on. Lyr sat in silence while the silver horned white strapped on the last of the armour.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Aiel whispered as he stepped back to examine Lyr. Lyrith was covered head to claw in silvery chain links and small plates of steel. His white scales were almost indistinguishable behind the armour.

"I do." Lyrith grunted as he stood up to walk to the arena entrance. Aiel stopped him.

"Lyr… I just want to say good luck. Thunder is not a dragon to be taken lightly."

Lyr nodded and stepped past the other Albino.

"Be careful!" Aiel called after Lyr as he disappeared into the cacophonous noise of the arena. Lyr's heart was pounding as he felt the roar of the crowd greet him. He stood at the far side of a sand floor battle ground. Pillars of stone rose up to the domed ceiling high above. Platforms dotted the walls and there, hundreds of figures could be seen. Students, servants, guards on break, all had come to witness the show.

In the middle of the arena floor stood two dragons, Terrador and Thunder. The Earth Guardian watched Lyrith as he paused at the entrance, and looked around. He beckoned the white forward. Lyr came, his face becoming more confident as he drew closer.

Thunder was armoured in thick plates, he looked like a giant of steel. No yellow showed through except around his face. Thunder's muzzle poked out from the visored helmet in a snide smirk. His feral golden eyes hard chips of ice as Lyr stepped up in front of him.

Up high in the stands Inferna fidgeted nervously. She watched the Albino, almost pitifully small compared to his massive opponent stopped in the center of the arena floor.

"Worried?" Spyro asked from beside her, drawing her gaze. Inferna took a deep breath hoping to calm her nerves. It didn't work. She nodded. Spyro raised an eye ridge.

"_Liar."_ He thought, before turning his attention back to the scene below.

"_Why am I so nervous?"_ Inferna wondered to herself, taking a long drink from a bowl of milk taken from a servant. Her long tongue lapped up the creamy fluid, quickly emptying the bowl. _"I know he can take care of himself, so why do I worry?"_ She sighed and raised her head. _"I hope he will be all right."_

The crowd finally fell into a pensive silence. Everyone waiting eagerly for the coming battle. Terrador cleared his throat before booming out towards the audience.

"The match rules will be as follows…"

Lyrith listened to Terrador list off the rules of the match, but let his eyes wander. He gazed around the arena, taking in every detail.

"_The pillars here would make excellent cover."_ Lyrith noted.

"…Armour may not be removed for any reason during the course of…"

"_I should avoid that pool, Thunder is a lightning dragon. I don't want to give him any advantage."_

"…Will end when one combatant cannot continue, when one side surrenders, or a death lock is…"

"_And I can use that rope to trip ugly over there up, and that brazier of hot coals could always be useful."_

"And one final rule. No elemental magic is permitted during this match."

Lyr's attention snapped back to Terrador, his muzzle falling open in shock.

"WHAT!" He roared, causing Terrador to take a step back.

"I am only ensuring this match is fair Lyrith." Terrador explained to the fuming white. "You have no element; it is only fair Thunder doesn't…"

"No! Absolutely not!" Lyrith thundered, stomping his paw down hard. "I refuse to be treated as a special case! You will treat me as any other dragon, no exceptions!"

The crowd muttered in shock, the Albino was refusing a fair match in place of one that was clearly against him. It was insanity.

"Milky wants to play rough." Thunder chuckled in amusement. "Alright, it's not like I will need to use my magic to beat you down anyways."

Terrador shrugged. "Alright then. Elemental magic is permitted, furies are forbidden during this match." The Earth Guardian glanced down at Lyrith, who nodded in approval. "Then let the fight begin!" Terrador roared taking off. The crowd exploded into cheers as the two dragons roared their battle cries and charged.

Inferna grinned at Terrador's shocked expression as he landed beside her. The Earth Guardian shook his head as the two students charged.

"What pride would drive young Lyrith to such foolishness?" Terrador muttered. "He demands a fight were everything is stacked against him."

"It is not pride that drives him." Inferna corrected. The staff around her looked to Inferna sceptically. "He is determined to prove himself, to you and to his peers. You did not respect him with your new rule. So he retaliated."

"I treat all of my students with respect." Terrador huffed. "And I treat them fairly, so I tried to make the match fair."

"He wants to be treated like any other dragon." Inferna pointed out. "You treated him as an inferior by changing the rules to his favour. He wants respect, and helping him won't earn him respect."

Thunder swiped at Lyrith with a heavy paw, the Albino sidestepped the strike and lashed out at one of Thunder's legs. The giant lightning drake's paws were swept out from under him, and he hit the floor with a crash of metal and a snarl. Taking advantage of his adversary's momentary disadvantage, Lyr hammered Thunder's helmeted head with his paws, the white's sharp claws skittering across the metal. Thunder roared and jerked his head up. His helmeted skull caught Lyrith in the gut, sending the small white flying. Thunder got to his paws, blinking stars from his vision. The Albino's blows had been harder than he had thought, and had felt them even through the padded helm.

Lyrith hit the floor and recovered instantly, rolling to his paws just before a sledgehammer blow from Thunder's tail came down where he had just been. Lyr snarled and batted at Thunder's side, his claws drawing sparks. Thunder struck again, but his ponderous movements were easily evaded by the agile white.

With each missed blow, and returned counter strike from Lyrith, Thunder felt his anger rising. Nothing he did could catch the Albino. Lyrith slid around his attacks and would deliver a contemptuous counter blow in return. A strike to his head from Lyr's tail broke Thunder's self-control. With a roar the yellow released a storm of lightning arcs at Lyrith. Lyr yelped in surprise as the bolts caught him. He howled in pain as the electricity coursed through his body. He collapsed twitching to the sandy floor.

Thunder laughed and the crowd cheered. The massive yellow sauntered over to the prone drake and raised his paw to bat at his head. Lyrith moved in a blur. He rammed his head beneath Thunder's jaw, the dragon reared up yowling, and with a twirl and sweep of his tail, Lyr took Thunder's paws out from under him. As Thunder tumbled to the ground, Lyrith completed the circle, reared up and brought his paws down on the falling drake like twin hammers. The cocky lightning dragon hit the ground and bounced back up, roaring in pain from the impact.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't need your element to beat me, Sparky?" Lyrith jeered at Thunder who groaned on the ground in front of him. The crowd fell silent for a moment, and then exploded into roars of applause. Thunder ground his fangs in rage at the white who stood gloating above him. The behemoth of a lightning dragon heaved himself to his paws and tackled Lyrith to the ground.

The crowd redoubled their cheering as the two grappled. They clawed and bit as they fought, each trying to gain the upper hand. Thunder discharged a surge of electricity into the white dragon pinned beneath him. Lyrith roared in pain and struck Thunder as hard as he could across the head. Thunder was thrown off and Lyr scrambled to his paws and took off into the air.

Thunder rose slowly to his paws and glared at Lyrith, who hovered above him. Lyr was panting, as he tried to regain control of his breath. His heart throbbed, pumping adrenaline through his body in buckets. The Albino smirked at Thunder's irritated expression.

"That can't be all!" Lyrith mocked. "Surely a dragon as high and mighty as you can beat a lowly white down?"

Thunder growled and unfurled his wings. With slow, strong beats Thunder ascended into the air, his armoured body rising steadily from the ground. Lyrith wasted no time. He dove at Thunder, claws outstretched as he came. Thunder saw the attack coming and fired a bolt of lightning at the oncoming white. Lyr rolled to the right just in time to avoid the bolt.

Thunder hissed in frustration as Lyrith swooped around for another dive, completely unharmed. Thunder spat another bolt, but Lyrith swerved behind a pillar, evading the blast of lightning. Finally Thunder had ascended high above the floor and hovered. Lyr circled him, dodging the occasional bolt as he tried to form a plan.

"_Thunder is obviously not an adept aerial fighter. His armour is too heavy to make mid-air combat effective. But his lightning works as well in close quarters as long range, so if he hits me I may not recover in time before I hit the ground."_ Lyr peered around the arena, looking for an idea. A glimmer far below caught his eye. Lyrith smiled, he had his plan.

Leaving the cover of the stone forest, Lyrith charged Thunder, beating his wings hard to gain as much momentum as possible. Thunder turned towards him and started to draw in a breath. Lyr's grin widened. Beneath them was the pool.

"_Even if he hits me he won't be able to stop my momentum," _Lyr thought, bracing for impact._ "I will ram right into him and we will fall together into the pool below. There he won't dare use his lightning, for fear of shocking himself."_ Lyrith knew it was a risky plan; many things could go wrong at this point. They might miss the pool and hit the sand floor below instead, he might miss the lightning dragon altogether. Or worst of all, he might actually miss Thunder, and land in the pool anyways, where Thunder could zap him at his leisure. But if it worked out, Lyrith would have the advantage of Thunder unable to use his element, and the lighter set of armour.

Lyrith was meters away from Thunder when he exhaled. He winced, waiting for the searing pain of lightning to rip through him. It never came. Instead a blast of invisible force struck Lyr as Thunder roared. The white was hurled bodily away from Thunder and into a stone pillar. He slammed into the stone and roared in pain as he felt something snap on impact. Lyr toppled and fell to the sandy floor far below with a thump.

The crowd gasped and held its breath as Thunder descend, laughing.

"Look who is so high and mighty now, runt!" Thunder jeered, as he landed and stalked forward towards the white. The crowd roared in approval, breaking the silence. Lyr struggled to his paws, legs wobbling from the pain, the world around him seemed blurred and unfocused and his ears rang. Lyrith's stomach churned when he saw his right wing flopping limply over his flank, it throbbed dully.

"_Wh…what was that?"_ Lyr thought as Thunder stepped up in front of him. The lightning dragon raised a paw and struck Lyr across the face contemptuously, sending him sprawling. Lyr hissed in pain when he landed on his wing.

"Surprised?" Thunder laughed as Lyrith got to is paws unsteadily. Thunder swung his paw but Lyr sidestepped the blow. The daze from the impact faded and rage set in as Lyr dodged, the pain from his wing slowly growing.

"You see, I am a dual-element dragon, whitey." Thunder grunted as he forced the Albino to retreat. "That means I have two elements, in case you are too stupid to understand. Can you guess what my second element is?"

Inferna rose to her paws as Lyrith struck the pillar. A sickening snap and a roar echoed around the chamber and the crowd fell silent. Lyr hit the floor and Inferna winced. Around her the other members of staff, flinched at the sight of Lyrith's limp wing.

"Are you alright, Inferna?" Cynder asked the Fire Guardian, who stood with a look of distress over her features. Inferna stood for a moment longer and then forced herself to sit down.

"Yes." She squeaked. She had lied, she desperately wanted to rush down there and stop the fight, and all of the staff could see that.

"_He isn't ready,"_ a small voice in the back of her mind told her, _"Thunder is a top class fighter. Even Igneous and Torch, the best here would rethink challenging him."_

"_No."_ Inferna told herself sternly. _"He would never forgive me if I interfered with his fight. It is his chance to once and for all prove to his peers that he is an equal, not an inferior. For better or for worse, I must let him finish this fight."_

Inferna gave a long shuddering sigh and nodded to her companions. "Yes, I'm alright."

"You don't know?" Thunder chortled, striking Lyrith across the head with a paw. "Here, let me give you a hint."

Lyr scrambled to his paws as the roaring of the crowd reached a crescendo. It didn't go back down. Instead it continued to rise, until the cheering of the spectators sent spikes of pain through Lyrith's head. He howled in pain and clutched at his head, trying to block out the noise. Thunder's laugh sent throbs of pain through Lyrith's body.

"GET IT NOW SNOWY?" Thunder struck Lyrith again, knocking him down. Desperately Lyrith wrapped his tail around one of Thunder's legs and pulled as hard as he could. The giant yellow toppled and hit the sand floor with a thunder clap. Recovering quickly, Lyrith fled into the stone forest. He ducked behind a pillar just as a bolt of lightning flashed past, making his scales tingle from the static.

Lyr's heart throbbed painfully in his chest, a drumroll of its own in the field of amplified sound.

"_Yes."_ Lyr thought as he dodged between the pillars. _"Thunder's second element is sound. He is amplifying the sound waves of the arena and using it as a weapon. It is a rare Sub-Element but is does exist."_ Lyr winced; even his thoughts were painfully loud.

Lyrith stopped by the pool, behind him Thunder zigzagged through the pillars looking for him. Lyr scooped up two pawfuls of mud and stuffed the slop into his now bleeding ears. The noise of the crowd dimmed, becoming merely deafening.

A ball of condensed electricity landed beside him and detonated. The blast sent Lyrith flying to the side, and he landed on his wing. He hissed in pain. Rolling to his paws Lyrith continued to run. Behind him Thunder jeered.

"THAT'S RIGHT, RUN SNOWY! YOU KNOW I AM BETTER THAN YOU NOW, WHY DON'T YOU JUST GIVE UP!"

The Albino came to a stop behind a pillar and sat down panting. The pain from his wing was excruciating, and the throbbing roars of approval from the crowd did nothing to help. Lyr felt his wing over gingerly, but found no breaks of fractures.

"_Dislocated then."_ Lyrith thought with satisfaction. Gripping his wing with a paw, Lyr forced the joint back into place. He howled in agony as it popped back in. The sound of his own yell sending spikes of pain through his skull. Once the pain had receded a bit, Lyr flapped his wing experimentally. It throbbed but moved to his direction.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Lyr had no time to react as arcs of lightning tore through him. The white's muscles spasmed as the electricity coursed through him. The crowd's cheering increased in volume again as Lyrith roared in pain. He managed to throw himself behind the pillar and away from the storm of lightning. He lay on the sand, his body still twitching.

Thunder came around the corner and was met by Lyrith's tail blade. The spear head cut a gash in Thunder's muzzle and forced him back. Lyr hauled himself up and threw himself at Thunder. The white's strong paw cuffed the yellow's head and knocked him to the ground. Lyrith struck twice more before the agonizing sound of the crowd faded and Thunder sucked in a deep breath.

Lyr only just managed to jump out of the way as Thunder released a powerful roar. A solid wave of sound tore up the sand floor as it blew across the field. It struck a stone pillar and sent up a cloud of sand around the point of impact.

The roar of the crowd rose again to its agonizing pitch as Thunder rose once more from the ground.

"_So he can only focus it on one thing at a time, hmm?"_ Lyrith mused as he retreated back into the forest of stone. Suddenly Lyr caught sight of a wooden bucket lying not far off to the side. A wide grin formed as a new plan came to mind.

"COME OUT SNOWY!" Thunder roared as he padded into the center of the arena floor. "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! I AM MAKING SURE OF THAT!"

The crowd fell silent as they waited for the white's response. After a moment, Lyr appeared from the pillars, the bucket held between his jaws.

"WHAT YOU GOT THERE, WHITEY? A PEACE OFFERING?"

Lyr put the bucket down long enough to stick a claw in his clogged ear frill and reply.

"Eh? Sorry I wasn't listening. I was too busy looking at your ugly mug. How did that happen? Were you born in a barn and a cow stepped on your face?"

"WHAT?" Thunder growled, startled by the reply.

"Or maybe your dear mommy was a gryphon. That might explain a lot." Lyr continued as if pondering aloud. Thunder roared in rage, shaking the floor in his wrath. The sound of the cheering dimmed as Thunder took a deep breath.

Lyr smirked, his tail flicked around the handle of the bucket and he turned and hurled it at Thunder's head.

The massive armoured yellow blinked in surprise as the wooden projectile whizzed toward him. He changed his target towards the bucket instinctively, and blasted it with a sonic boom. The wood exploded spraying the sand it had held right into Thunder's eyes.

The giant lightning dragon gasped in pain and pawed at his visored helmet trying to scoop the grit out of his eyes. Lyrith came from above. He bowled into Thunder, ploughing him into the sandy ground and pinning him there. His jaws clamped down on Thunder's neck plate as Lyr forced the larger yellow down. Thunder struggled beneath him as the countdown began.

"FIVE… FOUR…" The crowd chanted as the two grappled. "THREE… TWO…"

A surge of lightning ripped through the Albino and the world went black. A loud gong rang in the distance a moment later, and he remembered nothing more.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith

Jaheel, Nana Talbie

Aiel

Strange grey dragon

Temple staff (Inferna,

Savron's gang (Savron, Igneous, Burnam)

Torch's gang (Torch, Thunder)

Aren't I evil! You wait all this time for the epic fight scene, and then I cut it off at the end! *Evil laugh* I am a monster! To make it up for you I promise to try and get the next chapter done as soon as possible. Also the next chapter should kick things up a notch, I will introduce two of my three remaining characters, and the full plot of Dark Legacy should start to come to light.

I have noticed something odd about my chapters. My top favourite chapters are 12, 9, and 6 (in that order). What do you notice about them? They are all divisible by three! I even have a soft spot for chapter 3! Does this mean that chapter 15 will be great as well? Only one way to find out!


	13. Onset

Chapter 13. Onset

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder the Temple or any other place or character owned by the Spyro franchise. And if, anyone of you so much as tries to save the princess, I will fill the unicorn pond full of horseradish and scuffle your tulip patch. You have been warned. Also several of my characters are featured in this chapter; their names are listed at the bottom._

A knock at the door woke Inferna in the warm, spring night. She had been dozing fitfully, unable to get a proper sleep. Her room was messy, with many colourful objects scattered across the floor. Countless odd trinkets from yarn dolls to a collection of bleached bones could be found in piles around her room. To the casual eye, it would appear a disastrous mess that should be cleaned immediately.

However if one looked with a critical gaze, and tilted their head slightly to the left a pattern would begin to emerge. The heaps of objects that once may have appeared haphazard would be revealed to have been carefully placed. Objects stacked in abstract orders, connected only by vague similarities.

Inferna yawned and climbed to her paws. Leaving the golden pillows of her bed behind, she wound her way through the maze of objects and towards the door. She skipped past a teetering pile of wood blocks carved with strange symbols and opened the door.

Aquina stood behind it, paw raised for another knock. She lowered her paw and gazed into Inferna's eyes solemnly.

"He's awake." She murmured softly. Inferna felt a surge of relief flood through her and she nodded. Leaving her room behind the Guardian of Flames followed Aquina down the halls. Neither spoke, each caught in their own thoughts.

They arrived at the infirmary in quiet contemplation. Aquina opened the door and motioned for Inferna to enter. She stepped inside and Aquina closed the door, leaving Inferna inside alone with Lyrith.

The Albino lay on an elevated mattress; his snow white scales seemed a little duller in the soft light of the infirmary. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling with dull eyes. His gaze drifted to her as she approached. He sighed.

"How long have I been here?"

"About eight hours." Inferna replied sadly, sitting down beside the bed. Lyr looked away, keeping his eyes away from hers.

"I guess this means I lost then." He murmured dejectedly, the cotton pads tied over his ear frills wobbled with the movement of his head. Inferna opened her muzzle to console the young Albino, when the door opened a crack and a deep green dragon head peeked in. A smile suddenly creased her muzzle and she stood up.

"Deran!" She cried. Lyrith winced, covering his padded ears with his paws. Inferna felt a stab of guilt at causing him the moment of pain, but the feeling passed as she and the forge master embraced. "You're home! I missed you so much!" Inferna whispered, hugging him closer.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and grinned. "I finished early so I came straight home. I don't want to miss another moment with you." His gaze wandered over to Lyrith who watched the two with empty eyes. Deran glanced back to Inferna curiously.

"What happened to Lyrith?" He asked.

"He duelled Thunder." She replied, breaking away from him.

"And lost." Lyrith muttered, turning over on his mattress. Inferna sighed, walked over and placed a paw on his shoulder. He flinched away from her touch.

"I hate to burst your bubble of depression, Lyrith," Inferna said, rolling her eyes, "But you didn't lose, you beat him."

Lyrith perked up in surprise. He turned back to her, his eyes considerably brighter that before. "I… Won?"

Inferna rolled her eyes again but smiled. "Yes, you won. Don't you remember?"

"No." Lyrith replied, but a wide, silly grin played spread across his features.

"Well you see." Inferna began, clearing her throat. "You pinned Thunder down and initiated a death lock…"

...

The crowd roared as Lyrith slammed into Thunder and took him to the ground. The lightning dragon roared in confusion and pain as Lyrith's jaws clamped down on his neck plate. The two struggled for a moment before the audience started chanting. It seemed they didn't care who won at this point, they were all thrilled at the event.

"FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO…" suddenly a surge of lightning exploded from Thunder in a last ditch effort to dislodge the Albino. The crowd faltered for a moment and gasped. But Lyrith clung on, his jaws tightening until the metal beneath them cracked. Thunder gasped as his air supply was cut off.

The crowd roared the final number. "ONE!"

Terrador struck the gong nearby with his tail ball and the sound reverberated throughout the arena. The crowd exploded into cheers. Inferna got to her paws and clapped enthusiastically. She faltered however when she realised that the combatants had not stopped fighting. Thunder was beating at Lyrith with his paws as Lyr strangled him with his jaws.

Terrador seeing that both were out of control, shot down to the arena to separate them, Inferna followed a second later. They pulled the two apart with difficulty, despite his small size Lyr was incredibly strong and hung onto Thunder with all of his might.

"Lyrith, calm down!" Inferna shouted to the white. The crowd had fallen silent watching the scene. Lyr snarled but released Thunder, who gasped for air and pulled the ruined neck-guard off. Inferna looked into Lyr's eyes, but to her shock realised they were empty. They stared at her with no recognition or comprehension.

"Come now Lyrith." Inferna whispered soothingly, feeling a nervous twinge run through her at his gaze. She guided him to the change rooms, herding him with her tail. He made it all the way to the exit before he collapsed, ears bleeding through the mud, eyes blank. Aquina appeared from the change rooms, and with a squad of servants carried the broken Albino out of the arena.

...

"…And that is how you ended up here." Inferna finished. Lyrith listened intently as Inferna finished her account of the fight, once she was done, he shook his head.

"I don't remember any of that. The last I remember was starting the grapple, and then nothing."

"It sounds like I missed an interesting fight." Deran grumbled, walking forward to sit beside Inferna. "Thunder is one of the Temple's best fighters. It must have been an intense match."

"You have no idea." Inferna smirked. "The crowd was screaming for blood for most of the battle."

They fell silent for a moment. Lyrith tried to struggle into a sitting position, but Inferna held him down with a paw.

"Oh no you don't. You're hurt. Hell, Aquina scolded everyone on the staff for letting you get as hurt as you did. You are staying here."

"But… My classes…" Lyrith began, Inferna silenced him.

"Can wait. You will stay here to recover. Everyone, including Cadence has given you the next few days off. If you want I can bring you back any homework that you might miss, but you are staying here."

"Alright." Lyrith sighed, rolling over. Inferna grinned. She looked down to the foot of the mattress where the crumpled heap of a blanket lay. She picked it up and started to drape it over Lyr. He kicked it away.

"No blankets." He grumbled. Inferna backed down.

"Okay." She murmured, and turned away. Deran frowned at Lyrith but turned to follow. As they reached the door, Lyrith called out to them, his back still turned away.

"Inferna…"

The Fire Guardian turned back. "Yes?"

"Thanks… and sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you back then, before the fight."

Inferna was taken aback, but a small grin creased her muzzle. "It is alright, I shouldn't have babied you." She turned away and padded through the open infirmary door. Deran glanced between them puzzled, before following the Guardian of Flames out of the room.

* * *

"You lost!" Torch growled angrily as he and Thunder strode down the halls of the Temple. The red prince had been in a foul mood ever since the duel had ended between Thunder and Lyrith; and his anger was only intensified by the lightning dragon's almost total indifference to the matter.

"How can you be so calm! You lost to a filthy Albino, you should be furious!"

Thunder shrugged. "I lost, I need to get better. That's that."

Torch was rendered speechless at the statement, and his stride faltered, allowing Thunder to overtake him for a moment. Torch recovered with a snarl and resumed his place in front of the giant yellow.

"Whatever." The fire dragon grunted as they turned into a small hallway. Torch approached a nearby door and opened it. Inside a small group of dragons loitered, waiting for their leader to arrive. Wintra, Droth, Granite, Voltlyn and several others all sat on chairs and stools chatting.

Torch stormed into the room and stepped into the center, ensuring everyone could see him.

"We were once at the top of the Temple academy." Torch began, hissing the words to the surrounding dragons. "Everyone feared and respected us. Many wanted to be one of us, and everyone talked of our exploits. But now, thanks to **ONE WORTHLESS ALBINO RAT** NO ONE WILL EVEN TAKE US SERIOUSLY!" Torch roared. The dragons of the room, who had fallen silent as Torch began his speech, all muttered in agreement.

"And since **someone** failed to beat some humility into the lizard," Torch glared at Thunder, who ignored the jibe, "we look even more ridiculous!"

The room cast angry stares at Thunder and their muttering increased.

"Yeah, thanks Lightning Blob," Wintra hissed sarcastically, "for deciding to go easy on Snow Freak. You of all dragons should have been able to take him, Mr. I-am-so-perfect-because-I-have-two-elements! Yet you couldn't take a worthless, runty, stupid, badmouthed, prick of an Albino down a few …"

Thunder's paw shot forward and he gripped the slim dragoness by the throat. He heaved her into the air and gazed directly into her eyes. The entire room stopped muttering and stared at Thunder in shock. Even Torch took a step back at the sudden and violet reaction.

"You're right, I lost." Thunder rumbled, standing on his hind paws and holding Wintra in the air with a single forepaw. "So I will give you one warning. Do not insult the one who beat me in my presence like that ever again. To do so would be an insult to me, and I don't take those kinds of insults well." The giant lightning dragon dropped Wintra, who gasped for air and scurried away from Thunder.

Thunder turned to face Torch. "You know I fought with my all. I gave the white no quarter, no respite, and yet I lost. The Albino is a lot tougher than we first thought. He can take a hit, and deal one back. He is a clever fighter who uses every advantage he can find without mercy. If I fought him again, I would likely win now that I know what I am up against, but that by no means guarantees that I would. And even if I did, it would never erase the fact that he did beat me once before. Do not take him lightly, Torch."

Thunder stamped out of the room and slammed the door behind him. The room was silent for a moment, before Torch finally cleared his throat and turned back to the group.

"He has one thing right that is for sure. If he couldn't beat Snowy, none of you could."

"Could you, boss?" Granite asked, and Torch laughed.

"Of course, but I won't lower myself to his level unless it is absolutely necessary." He cleared his throat. "I want him out of the Temple, but with as few strings attached to us as possible… Any ideas?"

The group remained silent, contemplating the quandary. Torch waited for the first suggestion, gazing around the room. After a few minutes, a young fire dragon raised his paw. Torch nodded to him.

"Well, maybe we could threaten him. If he doesn't leave the Temple we hurt him or…"

"What part of 'as few strings attached' did you not understand?" Torch growled, shaking his head. "And besides, it wouldn't work. He isn't even remotely afraid of us."

The drake lowered his paw and flushed. After a few more moments a wind dragoness raised her paw.

"Maybe we could petition for…"

"No, after the stunt with Thunder, everyone will take the lizard's side."

This time no more suggestion came forth. Torch glanced around the room, feeling a mixture of despair and disgust welling up inside him. He looked to Wintra, she shrugged, an apologetic look on her face while rubbing at the bruise on her delicate neck.

His gaze wandered around the room once more, looking for ideas when his eyes fell on Voltlyn. She sat by the only window in the room, looking out and deliberately avoiding his eyes. He grinned and sauntered over to her. The members of his gang scooted out of his way. He reached the topaz dragoness and taking her chin in his paw, turned her head to face him.

Her deep blue eyes flickered from side to side, trying to avoid direct contact but she did not pull away.

"Do **you** have an idea, Voltlyn?" Torch purred. Voltlyn's eyes finally met his, and she swallowed. He saw her gaze fill with guilt as she answered.

"The exams are coming up soon." She whispered. Torch grinned triumphantly and released her. She jerked away and turned back to looking out the window.

"Yes," Torch whispered, grinning evilly. "Yes they are."

* * *

"I'm sorry Sleet," Spyro murmured, placing a paw on the scrawny dragon's shoulder. "I know this is hard for you."

"I'm failing?" Sleet whimpered, his whole body shrinking; the report card he held in his paw falling to the ground.

"Yes, I am sorry. You have been in my basic combat class for nearly two years now, and you show no signs of improving. At this rate you will be below the required grade." Spyro confirmed sadly. Sleet shook with shock at the news.

"But… but if I drop below the required grade…"

"You will be removed from the Temple." Spyro finished for him. Seeing the horror in Sleet's eyes he moved to comfort the small ice dragon. "Don't worry, you still have two weeks before the exam. You pass that and you're in the clear. Train hard enough and I am sure that you will pass. Maybe Igneous or Tirren will help you."

"Failing." Sleet repeated unbelieving as he picked up his report card and turned to leave the room. Spyro watched with pity as the scrawny ice drake left his office.

Outside Savron and his small gang waited for Sleet to come out of the conference room. When Sleet padded out, the door swinging shut behind him they all crowded around worried at his defeated demeanour.

"What did dad say?" Savron asked, nervously.

"I am failing." Sleet replied dully, walking passed the purple. The others gasped.

"Oh no Sleet! Combat is worth half of our grades. If you fail that then…" Tirren began, Sleet nodded in agreement.

"No matter how hard I try I can't improve." He whispered sadly as he and his friends trudged down the hall. The others trailed after him, glancing at each other nervously. Sleet had always been bad at combat; it had been his worst class. His academic courses that had kept him safely above the danger line. But ever since a hard bout of difficult magical history classes that even Sleet, the smartest student in the school had trouble with, his grades had declined.

"Why don't we give you some private lessons, Sleet?" Igneous suggested, hoping to comfort his younger friend, he only shook his head.

"I tried that once, remember? It didn't help at all." Sleet sighed. The group turned into the kitchen, and Tirren shrugged helplessly at her friends.

The kitchen was full of chattering students, and the tables were packed with bustling dragons. Everyone was busy packing food into their muzzles or chattering boisterously, yet only one topic could be heard: The fight between Lyrith and Thunder. For the past few days since the fight it had been the only thing anyone would talk about.

Every aspect of the fight had been picked over, from beginning to end. They reviewed the strategies used by both sides, comparing their fighting styles to that of their own. They decided which moves should and shouldn't have been used, and which ones had turned the tide of the battle. But the most hotly discussed topic, was whether or not Lyrith should have won the match.

"He fainted less than two minutes after the fight ended!" One bulky earth dragon growled to his friends. "Thunder was still up and moving. The white shouldn't have won!"

"Bullshit!" The fire drake beside the earth dragon scoffed. "He completed the death lock, and was still conscious for another minute. He won fair and square."

Arguments such as this had been debated since the fight. Many believed that Lyrith should not have won, but far more supported the white's victory. Regardless of points of view however, none denied the fact that Lyrith had actually won the match.

"Who would have thought Snowy could be so badass!" A wind dragon muttered to his friends as Savron and his friends picked out their meals. "He relocated his wing in the middle of the duel. Can you believe that!"

"You know," A slight ice dragoness snickered from across the room, "now that I think about it, he isn't that hard on the eye either." Her female friends around her agreed in a chorus of giggles.

"It looks like everyone is rethinking their opinions on our Albino classmate." Igneous remarked as they took their seats at their usual table.

"Can you blame them?" Typhous grunted as he started eating. "He took down Thunder! Even you would have thought twice about picking a fight with him!"

A sudden hush fell over the kitchen. Confused, Savron looked up. Lyrith had just walked into the room. He was covered in bandages, the white wrappings somehow amplifying his ferocious appearance. Everyone stared at the Albino in silence.

Lyrith felt a little uncomfortable beneath their intense gazes. It was not a silence he was familiar with. He was used to the mocking, distrustful silence that went with is white scales. This silence was awed, almost fearful. A few gazed at Lyrith with hate, but most looked at Lyrith with interest now, some even open admiration.

The positive attention was alien and to Lyrith almost nerve-wracking. He hobbled over to the buffet and started selecting his meal, taking considerably more than he usually did. Then he started walking towards his table after picking up his jam. His limping gait was followed by the eyes of everyone in the room.

Lyrith was halfway to his table when Savron cleared his throat and called over to the white.

"Hey, uh, Lyrith right? Why don't you come over here and sit with us?"

Lyr stared at Savron in disbelief. The other students all glanced at the purple in shock. Savron grinned and patted the table in front of an empty seat. Dubiously, Lyrith padded over to Savron's table.

"What are you doing?" Sleet hissed nervously as Lyr approached them.

Savron smiled. "Oh come now Sleet. It is good to make new friends, and besides, maybe he might help you with your dilemma. He beat Thunder without using any magic; just something to think about."

Sleet blinked in astonishment at Savron's words. Lyrith reached the table and looked to Savron. The purple motioned for Lyr to take a seat. Lyrith sat down on the cushion and placed his platter down. Savron extended a paw, flashing a friendly grin.

"Hi, I am Savron. We met before, at the race… Remember?"

Lyr nodded and took Savron's out stretched paw. The purple shook the Albino's paw firmly. The crowd slowly returned to their conversations, though more subdued than before.

"These are my friends. Igneous…"

Lyr took the burly red's paw, Igneous smiled warmly.

"Nice moves out there, Lyrith. It is about time someone put Thunder in his place."

"Tirren…"

"My pleasure, really." The emerald green dragoness smiled, taking Lyrith's paw daintily. Her grip was strong and resolute.

"Typhous…"

The slim grey gripped Lyr's paw nervously. "It is nice to meet you." Typhous murmured. The grey looked familiar to Lyrith but he couldn't quite place from where.

"Zindy…"

"Wow! Itissonicetomeetyou! Youweresocooloutthere, youknow, battlingThunder! Wheredidyoucomefrom? Wheredidyoulearntofight? Where…"Zindy chattered, grabbing Lyrith's paw with both of hers and shaking his limb up and down. Savron, Igneous and Tirren all reached out and clamped Zindy's muzzle shut.

"Um, nice to meet you too?" Lyrith muttered, yet unable to hold back a grin at the sight of Zindy still trying to ramble away with her muzzle forced shut.

"She's Volteer's granddaughter." Tirren clarified, and Lyrith nodded in understanding.

"And this is Sleet." Savron finished, putting a paw on the young ice dragon's shoulders. Sleet swallowed hard and looked up at the Albino. From close up Lyrith looked even more frightening than ever. The multitude of scars that covered his body carved wicked patterns over his frame. His eight, silver grey horn were notched and nicked, yet wickedly sharp, the two that stuck out beneath his jaw especially so. Muscles could be seen rippling beneath his white scales. His slightly feminine appearance, which on any other male would have made them look ridiculous, actually made him all the fiercer. His blood red eyes were hard, yet held a warm spark of curiosity as he held out his scarred paw, chipped talons flashing.

"Uh… Hi…" Sleet whispered taking the out stretched paw. Lyr shook firmly, not breaking eye contact. He could see the fear in the young dragon's eyes, and tried to smile warmly. Sleet quavered beneath the evil grin Lyr made, and the white immediately stopped after seeing the effect it had.

Everyone paused for a moment as they waited for Lyrith to introduce himself. He wavered for a second, unsure as to what to say. Finally he nodded to each of them.

"I am Lyrith; it is nice to meet you all." He grunted, picking up a leg of poultry and biting into it.

"Well Lyrith, how have you been? Enjoying your classes?" Savron asked, groping for a topic to discuss.

Lyr grunted in conformation, tearing chunks off of his meal.

"I have never seen anyone fight like that before. You must have had a great teacher."  
Igneous commented to Lyrith, hoping to draw him out into talking. Lyrith smiled sardonically.

"Oh yeah, I had a great teacher." Lyr fell back into silence and the group waited expectantly for Lyrith to continue. He didn't.

They sat in an awkward silence, the crowd of students chattering around them, occasionally sending the group quick glances. Tirren broke the silence.

"Hey, do you remember the first magical histories class you had? You said something to Cadence when you came in… What was it again?"

"Get your eye checked?" Lyrith supplied, glad to have the subject changed. Everyone laughed.

"You said that to him!" Savron gasped between chuckles. Lyr nodded smiling.

"His face was priceless!" Igneous chortled. "And that time you wouldn't listen to him unless he called you by name! He was speechless!" They burst into another round of laughter and this time Lyrith joined in.

"I haven't seen him that mad since Savron got him that book called _Grooming for Hideous Drakes_ as a present!" Tirren laughed, and the group burst into even more laughter.

Soon everyone was telling funny stories about their experiences around the Temple. Lyrith found himself laughing and joking along with the group of dragons heartily, as if they had been his friends his entire life. When the bell finally tolled to signal it was now time to return to their rooms, Lyrith felt overjoyed, a wide grin etched across his features. He bid farewell to Savron and his friends, and the purple offered that Lyrith should sit with them from now on. Lyrith cheerfully accepted.

He returned to his rooms to finish the last of his homework and get some rest, yet he felt different. As if the world wasn't such an empty and forbidding place anymore. Like the aching hole in his chest wasn't quite so hollow, and hurt just a little bit less.

* * *

"Good King Kaiser! I bring news from our emissary of the Dragon Realms!" A young Feran officer declared, prostrating himself before the king. Like all Ferans, the dragons of the jungle, he was a deep, dark crimson in colour, so dark it was almost black. A mane of black fur surrounded his head and shoulders, and was braided in an intricate pattern of plaits. Two overlarge bat-like-ears protruded from his head in place of horns, and a cat-like furred tail swayed back and forth as the king examined him.

The king's mane was a silver grey in colour and his scales were a lighter shade that the normal dark crimson colour. One ear was missing, and yet he held himself with a posture that commanded the attention of everyone in the room. He was strongly built, but the muscles of his youth had grown lax, and fat was starting to round out his features.

Kaiser looked curiously down at the young officer, who shook with anticipation.

"What news do you bring?"

"Most wondrous news, sire!" The Feran cried, bowing even deeper. "The emissary is opening a treaty between our people. The Dragon Realms welcomes us with open arms!"

The council around the room muttered in excitement. The throne room was built out of strong hardwood. Carvings and paintings swirled around the walls. The throne itself was actually a small cushioned bench for the king to lie on and was carved straight out of the great wood of the tree the palace was built into. Gold and silver leaf patterns swirled over the bench, giving as regal an appearance as any high-backed throne.

Kaiser beamed down at the young officer. "This is stupendous news! We are at last making progress in bringing our kingdoms together!"

The council roared in applause at the news and the Feran officer grinned at the cheering, glad to have been the bearer of such great news.

"Take the day off young drake, have your whole squad take the day off! You all deserve it!" Kaiser declared. The officer bowed and left. He stopped by a panther guard and patting each other on the back, left chatting.

The council conversed excitedly, all thinking about the benefits they would receive as part of the new empire they would join.

"Father, is this the wisest choice to make?" A full grown Feran grumbled from beside Kaiser. Gold beads were braided into his mane, and a cape of fine furs were draped over his flank.

Kaiser frowned and faced his son. "What do you mean?"

"We have been an independent nation for the longest of time. By merging into another empire, we will lose our independence."

"Our independence is what lost us much of our kingdom during the war with Malefor, Ramolous." Kaiser sighed, looking away from the Feran prince. "If we have an alliance we can integrate our people, deport materials into more areas and call for help if we are in danger. Even in these times of peace we must forge alliances."

"But are you not worried that they will seize your power?"

"They are a council of kings, Ramolous. If we unite, we will all share power equally. I may lose some power over our lands, but I will gain power elsewhere. Everything is equal."

"What of the purples than? Are you not afraid they will turn like Malefor and stab us all in the…"

"ENOUGH!" Kaiser roared, rising to his paws. The chatter in the room stopped as the king glowered down at his astonished son. "I have met with Spyro and he shows no signs of madness. He is a well-mannered and concerned dragon." Kaiser's voice softened. "I know your fears, Ramolous. After what Malefor did to our people, and your mother! My wife. But that dragon is dead. Put your fears to rest."

Ramolous snorted and stood up. He stormed out of the room, his cape of fur flapping. Kaiser watched him go sadly, and then sat down to discuss terms with the council.

Ramolous stamped out of the palace and onto the walkway. Around him the jungle was full of animal noises and the moons hung high in the air. They cast their radiance down upon the world, bathing everything in pale light.

The Feran capital was suspended high in the tree tops of the jungle. A large settlement could be found on the forest floor, but it was more of a decoy, the slums of the great Feran Empire. The true city thrived in the massive trees, whole blocks built into the gargantuan trunks. The crisscrossing branches that formed the roads were wide enough to drive two carts side-by-side over the wooden beams with ample space between.

As the Feran prince stormed across the palace walkways, a shadowy cloaked figure slipped into step beside him. He walked upright and was robed in a fine purple cloak and robes. He bore an ornately carved staff topped with a head-sized egg-shaped purple crystal. His face was shrouded by his hood but whiskers could be seen poking from the shadows.

"Is something the matter your majesty?" The robed figure asked, easily keeping pace with the larger Feran. Ramolous snorted. "I take that as a yes then." The figure spoke in a strong baritone, his staff clicking on the floorboards as they came to a stop. The prince whirled on the figure, who did not even flinch.

"Why doesn't father see reason, Jaxar!" Ramolous shouted, fangs flashing in anger. "The purple dragons are a menace. They only bring ruin and death each time one is born. Wars break out, rebellions, acts of genocide! They are beings of destruction and yet father wishes to befriend these monsters!" Ramolous returned to his angry stride, and the figure calmly followed.

"You are right my lord. As Malefor has shown, they are nothing but brutes. After all, is it not their so-called destiny to use the Destroyer to bring about the end of the world?"

"Precisely!" Ramolous cried as he reached his room. They slipped in. The inside was furnished with luxurious items: fur cushions, gold lined furniture, and a group of five adult female Ferans who sat giggling in a corner. As Ramolous entered they all stood to attention and bowed.

"My lord." They chimed in unison. Ramolous strutted up to them and pecked each one on the cheek. They giggled in pleasure.

"My preciouses, how has your day been?"

"Dull without you my lord." The youngest of the group chirped. Ramolous smiled.

"Well we can't have that now can we?" He turned and lay down on a long, cushioned mattress, he stretched out and the females all gathered around him. They started massaging his muscles, easing the strain and tension out of his body.

Jaxar leaned against a cabinet and planted his staff on the wood floor, watching his prince relax.

"How is the project going?" Ramolous asked after a few minutes.

"We are entering the final stages my lord." Jaxar responded. Ramolous sighed in pleasure, but whether it was from the news or the horde of females groping him Jaxar was unsure.

"Excellent. But it looks like we will have to accelerate our plans. The treaty is already being formed as we speak."

"My lord, must we speak of such matters in front of your whole harem!" Jaxar gasped, concern entering his voice. Ramolous glanced around at the females, who fussed over him.

"Oh come now. They are totally loyal to me, right my loves?"

"Yes your highness." They giggled, continuing their massage. Jaxar sighed.

"Alright, your highness, I will make preparations for the departure immediately. Are you satisfied with my choice of… companions?"

"Yes, they will do nicely." Ramolous grunted, and then gasped and turned to one of his harem. "Oh! Feeling adventurous now are we? Come here!" He grabbed the female and hauled her bodily over him. She screamed in delight as he did so. Jaxar turned away abruptly and left the room at a swift walk. Behind him the squeaks of the mattress, the giggles of the harem and the squeals of the 'lucky' Feraness filled the air.

Jaxar padded silently from the room, blocking the disturbing sounds from the room behind him. His staff clunked against the ground as he walked. He reached up with a gloved hand and pushed the hood away from his face.

He let out a long breath. His face was a hideous mesh of scales and fur. Thin, dull-dark scales covered his features, and patches of fur stuck out in odd spots across his face. His whiskers were wispy and drooped pathetically from his deformed muzzle. His facial features were a wretched blend of Dragon and Panther, horribly mixing the worst traits of both into one hideous phantasm.

Despite the obvious deformities, Jaxar, sorcerer and honoured adviser to the prince Ramolous stood with pride, uncaring of the disgusted looks passers-by gave him. His red-orange eyes burned in their sunken sockets as he made his way around the palace.

He came to a stop at a balcony overlooking the whole of the Feran capital, Grasbronda. He smiled, feeling the warm breeze ruffle his robes in the cloudless starry night.

"What a wonderful night, to start a revolution."

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang (Lyrith, Savron, Igneous, Zindy, Typhous, Tirren, Sleet)

Torch's gang (Torch, Wintra, Voltlyn, Granite, Droth, Thunder)

Temple staff (Inferna, Deran, Aquina)

Ramolous, Jaxar, Kaiser.

Wow, what an ending note, right? This chapter marks the point where the real plot starts to come into play. It won't get into full motion for a little longer, as there are a few things left that need to happen, but it will soon enough. I hope your curiosity is perked up because I am going to post my next project before chapter 14. I have to catch up to my schedule before I can do any of that though, so I might have a delay between this chapter and the next update.


	14. Preparations

Chapter 14. Preparations.

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other place, or character belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters of my own creation however, are featured in this chapter. Their names will be listed at the bottom. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go (insert verb here) a cake with my (insert object/person here) and (insert verb here) a glass of chocolate milk. Have fun with that. _:P

It was late morning at the Temple, and the skies were clear of clouds. Flocks of birds flew overhead, returning from their winter hibernation. In the Temple, crowds of students flocked towards the kitchens for their breakfast before class. Among them, a red and a purple dragon wove through the crowd, carried along by the tide of bodies.

"Really? Why?" Igneous asked dumbfounded as he and Savron walked down the corridor towards the student kitchen.

Savron grinned excitedly. "I have been doing so well with my studying that mom and dad have decided to let me off the hook!"

Igneous looked amused at his friend, who was all but bouncing up and down in joy. "Well it's about time. I thought you would never get out of that grounding. See, patience does pay off."

The two turned into the kitchen and made a beeline for the buffet table. Lyrith stood just ahead of them, collecting his meal. Savron tapped him on the shoulder and Lyr turned his head. The purple grinned and nodded towards their usual spot. Lyr smiled and nodded his thanks. The three gathered up their breakfast and headed off towards the table, skipping past the bustling crowds. They took their seats, and found Tirren and Sleet already seated there.

"Hey gorgeous." Savron said, winking at Tirren. "Guess who just got freed from the dungeon of boredom?" Tirren groaned.

"Oh great. They let loose the purple blunder back onto the school."

Savron laughed, and Igneous and Sleet joined in. Lyrith watched the conversation with interest.

Tirren sighed but smiled at the purple dragon's reaction to her jibe. "So what are you going to do with your free time now, Sav?"

"Well, during the little spare time I could manage between classes and studying, I have done a little research." Savron tapped the side of his muzzle with a claw and winked.

"Really?" Tirren scoffed. "The notorious slacker, researching? Are you really Savron?"

Savron rolled his eyes but nodded. "Did you know that this Temple was built over the ruins of the old one?" He asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, some of the old Dragon Temple is still intact, buried underground."

Igneous, Tirren and Sleet all immediately understood what Savron was getting at, but Lyrith looked at the purple, puzzled.

"But Sav!" Sleet exclaimed. "All of the entrances have been blocked off! There's no way inside. And even if there were, it might be dangerous."

"And that's the point." Savron grinned mischievously. "Imagine all of the treasure we could find down there. Imagine how grateful the Guardians would be if we recovered some of their old relics for them? And yes, there may be some danger, but that's most of the fun."

"Okay, so say we agree." Tirren sighed, putting down the turkey leg she had been gnawing on. "How do you plan on getting down there?"

"Like I said, I've been doing some research." Savron snickered. "There is a way. Do you remember those cave tunnels in the mountain side below the Temple walls?"

Tirren nodded.

"Well, one of those was an escape tunnel that led from the old Temple's lower regions. I did some poking around and it is still open! And since we have tomorrow off, I figured…"

"If we're going I don't want it to end like the last misadventure you went on." Tirren cut in, picking up a lamb chop. "We bring supplies, precautions; you will **tell** your parents that you're going."

"Fine!" Savron exclaimed, throwing his paws up into the air. "I will tell them."

With Savron's declaration, the group immediately started planning. Lyrith, who still didn't really know what was going on, just watched.

"Some torches, chalk to mark our way." Igneous suggested.

"Some life and magic crystals, we might need those." Tirren added.

"More dragons should come along too. Maybe Zindy or Typhous will want to join in." Igneous grinned, excitement filling his voice.

"Hey, Lyrith buddy, want to come along?" Savron asked the white who was digging into his meal with gusto. Lyr paused to consider the request.

"No, I can't. I have to start up my work program with Deran at the forges tomorrow. I can't miss it."

"Work program?" Savron looked at Lyr questioningly. "You mean like a job?"

Lyrith nodded returning to his meal. Savron stared at Lyrith in amazed curiosity.

"Why do you need a job? Aren't your parents sending you money?"

Lyrith clenched his jaw in agitation at the remark, but managed to bite back a stinging remark about rich folk and their money.

"Sav!" Tirren scolded, glaring at the purple dragon. "It is none of your business why he needs a job. Not everyone gets money from their parents, or even have rich families. So back off!" The emerald green dragoness turned to look at Lyrith, huffing. "It's alright, you don't have to answer anything dopey over there asks."

Lyrith let his anger fade away and returned to eating, not answering Savron's question. The purple shrugged and went back to eating. After another few minutes Lyrith finished up on his meal and started on his bowl of jam. Savron looked up with interest as Lyrith started scooping up the bright red substance by the pawful and eating it.

"Hey, uh, Lyrith… Can you really taste jam?"

"Yes." Lyrith grunted. He paused for a moment and then passed the bowl over to Savron. Savron looked at the contents of the bowl with dubious interest, and then cautiously scooped some up and tasted it.

"Hey this isn't half bad!" Savron cried out in delight. He scooped up some more and tried again. Igneous and Sleet looked at each other in shock, while Tirren just stared as Savron scooped up some more jam onto his plate and started experimenting. Lyrith took the bowl back as surprised as the others.

"_Well this is a strange turn of events."_ He thought as Savron sampled jam and pork together. _"One of my own kind can't taste sweet flavours, but a purple can… odd."_

Igneous looked between the bowl of jam and Savron and then back again.

"Hey can I try that?" Igneous asked. With a nod from Lyrith, the red dragon dipped his claws into the jam and tasted the red substance. His face screwed up in disgust, and he pushed the bowl back to Lyrith and washed his mouth out with a gulp of milk.

Lyrith offered the bowl to Tirren and Sleet, who both declined the offer. Lyr shrugged, and with an amused smirk on his face, finished eating. The other dragons watching Savron devour his newly discovered meal with disgust. Finally the bell rang, and leaving their plates behind, set off to class.

* * *

"Our quarrel with the gryphons was started nearly two thousand years ago, when a young dragon butchered an important family on gryphon soil in cold blood for a couple of magic crystals." Cynder spoke, her voice strong and commanding, forcing everyone's attention to her.

"At that time our king was weak hearted and greedy, and despite continual demands for the murderer, who had fled onto dragon soil, to be brought to justice, the king was reluctant to waste resources in finding him. The gryphons, outraged at the insult, began systematically attacking small settlements on our soil, declaring that they would continue to do so until the criminal was dead or brought before them. The king, now motivated by anger rather than common sense, started retaliating by attacking gryphon settlements back for each on of ours lost, it didn't take long for a full fledged war to break out..."

Cynder paced slowly around her class room. It was large but with the many maps, tables, books and students crammed inside, it was far from spacious. Huge windows were open on the left side of where the students sat.

"Fed up with being butchered for an unjust cause after ten years of fighting, our people revolted, overthrowing the weak and petty king..."

Most of the dragons tried vainly to fend off sleep. Using a multitude of tasks to occupy the time. Some played with their writing utensils, while others looked out the windows hoping to see something interesting. they all knew that if they were caught dozing off, they would recieve the full fury of the black dragoness, well known as the Terror of the History Class.

"The new king quickly had the criminal who had started it all, caputured, and handed him over to the gryphons. He then begged for the war to come to an end. The gryphons accepted, but only after making several more demands which the new king readily agreed to. But even with the war over, the scars were still fresh in the minds of the people. And small hostilities continued to ensue. And the conflict began again when a..."

Sleet yawned, his quill scratching over his paper, occasionally dipping into his ink pot, recording all of the most important points of the bloody feud between dragons and the gryphons. While he worked, taking notes, but not really paying attention, Sleet delved into his own issue: He was failing.

"_I can't fail."_ Sleet thought despondently as he half listened to Cynder's lecture_. "If I do I might never get to see Savron or the others ever again. And dad will be so disappointed in me. I need to find somebody to help me pass, someone who can teach me how to fight properly… But who?"_

The scrawny dragon sighed. It was impossible. He had only two weeks to train for the exam and even if he found somebody, how would they be able to teach him enough to pass in such a short time?

Sleet looked down at his paper and started in surprise. He had stopped writing notes from Cynder's lecture, and had written repetitively across his page Savron's words from the day before:

"_After all, he beat Thunder without magic, just something to think about."_

Sleet stared at the words for a time, and then looked up at Lyrith, who was sitting down at the front of the classroom, diligently writing every word Cynder spoke.

"_Would he teach me? __**Could**__ he even teach me? Spyro couldn't, is he able to?"_

Sleet suddenly realised that Cynder had ceased speaking, and that everyone was packing their supplies away. He tore his eyes from Lyrith and a second later the bell rang.

Sleet quickly gathered up all of his supplies and stood up, shoving them into a satchel and found that Lyrith had already left the room. Sudden panic rose unbidden to him, causing him to snatch up his bag and race out of the classroom. He came to a stop outside of the class, and looked furtively around. He caught sight of a white figure walking down the hall to his left; the crowd of students bustling about quickly cut him off from view.

Sleet took off after the retreating Albino, burrowing through the packed crowd like a mole. Sleet caught sight of Lyr breaking away from the body of students and head down a side passage. Sleet struggled free from the crowd and hurried after the white.

He turned several corners, following brief glimpses of Lyr's white scales as the ice drake ran to catch up though the torch lit halls. Lyrith turned right, into the great hall and desperately, Sleet charged after him, turning the corner only to slam right into Lyrith, who sat waiting in the middle of the hall. Sleet bounced backwards, staggering from the impact, Lyrith did not even budge from his position.

"Why are you following me?" Lyr snarled at Sleet.

"I…" Sleet began, but stutter to a halt at the sight of Lyr's fearsome grimace.

"Well?" Lyrith demanded, his expression growing impatient.

Sleet struggled to respond. After a moment of silence, Lyrith huffed and turned away, starting to walk away. Sleet's panic returned without warning.

"Could you teach me how to fight?" He managed to squeak, the panic overwhelming his nervousness. Lyrith stopped and looked back at Sleet shocked.

"Teach you… To fight?" He asked, incredulously. Having already blurted out his request, Sleet stammered on.

"Well… you see I am failing basic combat class. And if I fail the exam coming up, I will be removed from the Temple. And… and since you're such a great fighter, I… I thought maybe you could help me… learn?"

Lyrith stared at Sleet in astonishment. This was the last thing he had expected when he had confronted the small ice dragon. He was not sure how to respond to such a request. Never before had anyone asked him for anything.

Sleet saw him hesitate, and thinking he might be about to refuse, pleaded, desperation in his voice.

"Please! I really need your help!"

Lyr could see the fear and horror in the young dragon's expression as he pleaded, and Lyr finally caved. He nodded in agreement. Sleet slumped in relief.

"After classes end, meet me in the training ground. We will start immediately." Then without waiting for a response, Lyrith turned and strode off, vanishing into the crowded great hall. Sleet watched him go, a feeling of joy sweeping over him.

"Yes!" he thought, turning back around and striding away, heading towards his next class. "He said yes! Maybe I will be able to improve and pass my exam! After all, if anyone can teach me to how to fight, it is the colourless dragon that defeated a dual element!"

* * *

"He's right in here." Spyro murmured as he opened the door to the training ground. The combat classroom was dimly lit, with only a few torches still lit. Standing off to the side of the combat ring, Lyr sat, fiddling with the controls of the new animation mechanism.

"You are welcome to come and train here as often as you like." Spyro affirmed, nodding towards the training ring. "Just be careful with the new machine, we don't want to have to replace it again."

Sleet nodded in understanding, and then padded over towards Lyrith. Spyro closed the door, leaving the two alone.

"Uh, hi." Sleet called over to Lyr. The white dragon left the machine and faced Sleet. He eyed the scrawny drake up and down, and then turned back to the machine, flipping some switches.

"Hi." He grunted.

"So, uh… What are we going to do first?" Sleet asked, stopping beside Lyrith to watch him play with the controls.

"Before I help you with anything, I need to know how…"

"Don't pull that lever!" Sleet warned. Lyrith pulled his paw back sharply, looked at Sleet sceptically, and then started again, not pulling the lever.

"I need to know how well you **can** fight."

"So that's why you are working with the machine? What will I be fighting?"

"Well, I have either set the machine for two dummies, or twenty. I'm not entirely sure which." Lyr said smoothly, hiding an amused grin.

Sleet gulped.

"Well, go on, get into the ring. I won't learn anything if you just stand there."

Cautiously Sleet entered the ring, and stood waiting for Lyr to start the test.

"Don't worry." Lyr called over to Sleet, no longer able to hide his sly smile. "If worse comes to worse I can always stop the dummies with this lever… At least I think it is this lever…"

"_Oh ancestors what have I gotten myself into?"_ Sleet asked himself, not seeing the joking smirk on Lyrith's muzzle. Lyrith pulled down the switch and the fight began.

Two straw dummies rose up before Sleet, clubs at the ready. After a second's pause, they struck, clubs swinging in wide, clumsy arcs. The ice dragon threw himself out of the way, landing hard on the dirt ground.

He barely managed to get out of the way of another swinging blow from the second dummy. The two straw creatures advanced slowly towards the scrambling ice drake. Sleet made a desperate strike with his tail hoping to trip the dummy, but aimed too high and his tail wrapped around the mannequin's upper leg, making Sleet's attempt useless. The dummy casually hit Sleet across the ribs, sending him sprawling. The first dummy raised its club to strike. Panicking, Sleet sent a blast of liquid ice at the mannequin, freezing it in place.

The statue of ice and straw teetered, off balance, and toppled on top of Sleet, pinning him in place. Sleet struggled to escape the self-imposed prison as the second dummy rained blows down on the frozen form of its comrade, trying to break through. The blows jarred Sleet to the bone, and felt another surge of panic rising as he squirmed beneath the dummycicle. As the dummy began to splinter beneath the onslaught, Sleet desperately put his forepaws onto the frozen sculpture and sent a surge of power through it. It exploded upwards in a spray of ice shards, tearing through the last dummy like a razor through paper.

Lyrith took a step back in sudden shock at the massive display of power. He watched as the remains of the last mannequin were reduced to saw dust from the explosion.

"_He has the power, and intelligence to be the greatest student in the Temple, yet he can barely even fight off two dummies."_ Lyrith thought, examining the small drake who lay panting on the floor. _"The only thing I can do for him at this point is to help him learn it himself. It is only his confidence that is holding him back."_

"Okay, I'm done the test. What now?" Sleet asked, getting up back onto his paws. Lyrith pondered for a moment on the best way to train the young dragon, tapping a claw to his chin.

"I can definitely see where you need improvement. Your combat style, if lack of one can be considered a style, needs work. Your only truly strong points seem to be your magic, but even that needs some work."

Sleet sagged as he heard the news. Lyrith continued on, ignoring Sleet's depressed look.

"We have two weeks to train you, with classes, and studying aside you will have to train every day if you want to get to the point where you will show real improvement in your fighting style."

Sleet nodded sombrely, and got up. He had hoped it would be easy, but had not really expected it.

"Come here every day after classes, I will train you for a few hours. It will be hard, but hopefully you will be able to get a good mark at the end of the exam."

"Okay." Sleet sighed, standing up. "So where do we start?"

"First, your dodging technique. You leave too many openings when you move. And since you are clearly magic-based in style, it is best to reinforce that by teaching you how to avoid close quarters attacks so you don't get beaten to a pulp."

"And how will we do that?" Sleet asked the white dragon, who turned back to the control panel.

"The best way? To have you fight a bunch of dummies for a few hours each day. The easiest way? Chuck rocks at you and have you evade them."

"I think I like the easy way more." Sleet interjected.

"You won't be thinking that when you fail the exam." Lyrith snorted, twisting some controls. "So for now, you will face three dummies in the ring. You are not allowed to attack back. You must dodge until the time is up."

"How long will that be?" Sleet swallowed hard, shaking.

"About five minutes or so." Lyrith grunted, twisting the final lever and turning back to look at Sleet. Three dummies rose up from the ground, the shredded wood and straw coming back together to form the three figures.

The next five minutes were hell for Sleet as he desperately evaded the barrage of attacks. Most of his dodges were ineffective as he was hit by one or more of the mannequin's attacks regardless of his attempts. Throwing himself to the floor or scrambling away to get out of the club's way. Unable to strike back he had no respite from the dummies as the sand fell in the hourglass beside Lyrith.

Finally to the small dragon's relief, the sand ran out and Lyr pulled the lever to stop the dummies, which stopped in their tracks. Sleet staggered out of the training ring and gulped down some water from the nearby trough.

Sleet looked back after a long drink to see Lyrith scratching notes into a notepad with his quill.

"What's that?" He panted, approaching the Albino to take a look.

"I'm noting how many times you were hit, for reference." Lyr responded flatly. Sleet balked at the notepad. The tally number was over three dozen.

"Now, get back in there. You won't improve by standing around."

Sleet sighed and returned to the training ring.

"Um, aren't you going to give me any advice on how to improve?" Sleet suggested wryly of Lyr as he waited for the next round to begin.

"Well, watch your opponent's movements. Try and see what they are going to do next by how they move. And try to avoid doing drastic dodges that throw you off balance and leave you open for attack."

"Wait, what?" Sleet demanded, confused. "How do I…"

But Lyrith had already pulled the switch.

* * *

It was evening in the skies of the Temple as Spyro beat his way through the strong winds towards shelter. Around his neck a large satchel hung, overburdened by its contents.

The purple dragon ground his fangs as a powerful gust threatened to blow him off course. He clutched the bag with a front paw tightly, hoping to keep it from swinging out of control in the strong winds. He landed awkwardly on the landing platform high above the ground and stumbled inside. He fumbled with the satchel for a moment before entering the Temple halls.

Spyro made his way quickly through the shadowy corridors, despite the flickering torches the halls were cold, chilled by the howling winds. Spyro shivered, he could not wait to get back to his warm room.

Several more turns brought him to his destination, much to his relief. He slipped inside. Warmth from the nearby furnace greeted him as he entered. Sighing in pleasure he shut the door behind him with a flick of his tail.

The bed that hung like a chandelier from the top of the room beckoned to him invitingly, but he ignored it. Loping down a short flight of stairs to the study. He wandered a while around the chaotic mess of books and paper that were piled messily over tables and across the floor, examining the area with a keen eye. Finally he stopped at a small corner, where an alcove was set with a pedestal.

Nodding in satisfaction, Spyro opened up his satchel and produced a large sculpture shaped like the bust of a dragon. It was coloured in every shade of the rainbow, and its scales were each a tiny figure of a dragon, all flying together to form the shape of the dragon's head and shoulders. Nine regal ivory horns arched back out of its head, and it stared out with dark opal eyes that shone even in the dim light.

Spyro spent several second adjusting the sculpture so that it gazed out imperiously at the study.

"I still say it clashes with half of our furniture." A musical voice commented dryly from behind the purple dragon. Spyro turned with a grin to face Cynder, who eyed the bust with distain.

"But it goes well with the other half, right?" Spyro chuckled, kissing Cynder on the snout.

She snorted. "Barely."

Spyro laughed and they both took off and ascended to a large platform a floor above. On the platform a modest sized table was set with several platters of food, and a pitcher of cream. They took a seat at the table opposite one another, resting their haunches on the soft cushions placed as seats around it. Several candles lit up the meal, adding a dusky glow to the shadowy room.

"You're late." Cynder murmured, eyeing Spyro who placed his satchel down on the floor.

"I was just picking up a few things." Spyro grinned, answering her unspoken question. He poured them both a bowl of cream from the pitcher.

"Yes, I am sure that is exactly what you were doing while you ogled that statue over there." Cynder remarked, chilly. Spyro laughed weakly and Cynder joined in, then they fell into an awkward silence.

"Do you want to…?" Cynder began, breaking the silence. Spyro nodded solemnly. He raised his head and intoned in a quiet voice.

"Exactly twenty three years to this day we cast down the Dark Master. Exactly twenty three years to this day we lost a beloved friend. For a moment, let us remember those lost in the struggle to save this world, and give them thanks…"

Spyro trailed off, and both he and Cynder closed their eyes and lowered their heads in respect. Spyro felt an ache behind his eyes as he remembered Ignitus, his former mentor and close friend. He held on to that feeling of sadness for a moment, and then let it go.

Cynder raised her head and broke the silence.

"But let us now move forward. It is a time of tranquility and love, let us remember past joys. Precisely twenty years from this day, we joined as mates. Let us celebrate our union with this feast."

The each took a bowl of cream and leaned forward, pressing the wooden bowls to each other's muzzles. They drank deeply from the bowls, as they held it to each other, as a sign of trust and support.

They lowered the bowl and grinned, having completed their yearly ritual. Spyro licked a smudge of cream from his muzzle and smirked.

"And now, for the presents!"

Cynder smiled at her mate's playful tone and produced a wrapped package from beside the table. She passed it to him, and started eating from her plate of food while she watched Spyro open his gift. He took the gift and shook it gently, cocking his head to listen at its contents. Then he sliced the wrapping open with a claw and beheld what was inside.

Within the package a carved wooden bottle was held. It was made out of the finest dark hard wood, and was embossed with gold lining. Spyro grinned widely.

"This is beautiful! It will be perfect for storing the fruit brandy I've been fermenting!"

"I still don't know how you can drink that stuff." Cynder grumbled through her meal as she chewed.

"I have always been able to eat fruit." Spyro replied, uncorking the bottle and looking inside. "It may have something to do with being raised by dragonflies. After all, it's not like they could hunt a deer for me, right?" He placed the bottle down on the table and picked his satchel.

Cynder sat up straighter, as he opened the bag and looked up at her. She waited expectantly as he reached into the bag and pulled out her present.

It was a gold choker, engraved with symbols. A massive emerald was set into the center of the neckpiece and on the back, Cynder's name was engraved. She gasped as he passed it to her.

"You… You bought me it anyways. Even though you won the bet." She held the choker, overcome at the gift given.

Spyro walked around the table and unclasped the choker she already wore around her neck. He then took the gold one from her, and slipped it around her neck. Cynder got up and examined her reflection in a nearby mirror. The gold gleamed brightly against her black scales, and the emerald matched her eyes flawlessly.

"Well now I feel selfish." Cynder declared, turning back to face Spyro. "I wouldn't let you get your statue, and you got me this anyway. Even my gift is only a fraction of what this is worth."

Spyro walked over to her, a loving smile creasing his mischievous eyes. "Well, maybe you could make it up to me, if you feel so badly?" He whispered suggestively, nuzzling her face with his own.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." She purred.

"Mom! Dad!" Savron called, entering the room. "I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow I…"

He stopped as he watched Cynder kiss Spyro deeply, then turn and lead him away from their feast. She trailed her tail along his side and across his chin as they padded to the side of the platform. They took off, ascending rapidly to the bed high above. They landed, and distantly Savron could see their shapes coil together behind the curtains.

Savron turned away with a start, eyes wild and face burning. He sped out of the room at a fast trot, leaving the disturbing scene of his mother and father behind. Igneous, who had waited outside the room while Savron went in to tell them about the adventure, followed as his purple friend as he stormed down the halls, away from the room. They both carried large burlap sacks full of supplies.

"Uh, Sav? Where are you going? Shouldn't you tell your parents…?"

"Leave it!" Savron hissed. Igneous dropped the subject. They moved through the twisting halls towards their meeting place. They entered a small storage room and found Tirren already waiting for them.

"About time, I was starting to think you would never show up." The green dragoness grumbled.

"Did you get what I asked for?" Savron asked, having finally calmed down from his disturbed state. He and Igneous placed the sacks they had been carrying beside Tirren's.

"Yep, three coils of rope. A box of chalk, some torches and a couple of sacks."

"I've got some rations, paper and quills to draw out a map. I also borrowed some scrap armour for protection." Igneous declared, motioning to the sacks that lay near Tirren's.

"Good." Savron nodded to each of them. "I got some magic and life crystals that I **bought** from the crystals gardens. I didn't take any without permission this time."

"Good for you Sav!" Tirren smiled, mockingly. Savron sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I also brought a water clock, to help us tell the time while exploring."

"I'm glad we're doing it this way." Tirren grunted, arranging the bags of equipment into a neat pile. "I don't want to get in trouble for another crazy stunt like your last one. You did tell your parents we're going, right?"

"Um, yeah… sure." Savron lied, and Tirren glared at him suspiciously. A knock at the door prevented the emerald green dragoness from questioning the purple further, and Savron hastily opened the door. Sleet stood behind the door, his sky blue scales were bruised in a number of places, and he wobbled a bit as he stood. Savron eyed the dragon's wounds with concern as he stepped back to allow the young drake entry.

"Are you okay, Sleet?" Tirren murmured, stepping up to Sleet to examine his injuries.

"Yeah, but Lyrith is a really harsh teacher." Sleet complained, putting a paw on a particularly nasty bruise on his shoulder.

"What have you two been doing?" Igneous asked, with worry.

"He made me fight against several dummies nonstop. He wouldn't let me even attack back. He said that it's to improve my dodging skills."

"Well… you do need improvement there Sleet. You aren't all that great at evasion." Savron pointed out. He slipped a small life crystal from his pack and gave it to Sleet. The scrawny ice drake took it with relief and popped it into his mouth. The bruises faded away and he stretched, relieved.

"Dodging is one of the most important skills you can learn." Tirren agreed, and Sleet nodded.

"But does that mean he has to make me go up against three dummies for so long? I hurt all over!"

"Well, Terrador did always say that the fastest way to learn is against overwhelming odds, or dangerous situations." Igneous remarked. "And he is always saying things like: No pain, no gain."

"Alright, I get it." Sleet groaned, defeated. "But I didn't expect it to be this hard."

"There is no easy way to learn how to fight." Igneous said, hoping to sooth his friend. "He must be teaching you the way he learned, and look at him! He is an incredible fighter!"

"But think of his scars!" Sleet argued, feeling frustration welling up in him. "I bet the reason he has so many is because of his teacher! I don't want to end up like that!"

Silence fell for a moment as the three thought back on the white, and his horribly scarred body.

"Well you asked him Sleet." Savron finally said, breaking the silence. "If you want to pass, you may have to accept his teachings. You don't really have much choice."

"I know." Sleet sighed, sitting down, head hanging. They looked at the defeated drake with pity, and Savron decided to change the subject.

"So, are you coming Sleet? Typhous and Zindy are coming along."

"No. Lyrith says that if I'm going to pass, I have to train every day. I won't be able to go."

"Bummer." Savron grumbled, disappointed. "It has been a long time since everyone has gone on an adventure together. But I would rather you pass and stay here for another adventure later, than come with us and fail. So I support your decision."

Sleet nodded in thanks, and in disappointment. Savron cleared his throat and turned back to Tirren and Igneous.

"Okay, so tomorrow after breakfast we will all go to the caves and start exploring. We will be gone until two hours after classes normally end. Tell Ty and Zindy. They wouldn't want to miss this trip."

* * *

The halls of the Temple were quiet, with only the sound of the howling wind disturbing the calm. Lyrith wandered the halls, heading out for his night walk. His mind dwelled on the training session he had just completed with Sleet not long ago, and was busy contemplating the events of that day.

He had pushed Sleet hard, hoping to give him as much combat experience as possible in such a short period of time. He had learned fast, and was already showing signs of learning to read enemy movements, even if he wasn't aware of it. The main problem Lyr felt he faced was pushing the young dragon too hard.

"_I don't want to drive him away. I've only just made friends and I don't want to lose one because I was too harsh."_ Lyr thought worriedly, padding down the hall. He had seen the exasperated look on Sleet's face, and had realised immediately that it was directed at him. _"But I can't go easy on him either. He needs to learn fast in order to pass the exam. He fails that and I will lose him no matter how hard I tried to keep his friendship. How will I do this?"_

Lyr sighed, and turned into the great hall. "Why do these situations always have to be so hard?"

He continued walking, letting the marvellous scenery banish his musing. The murals on the walls of the great hall were a breathtaking sight. Every time he passed through the great hall he always took the time to admire the artwork. He walked along the walls of the great hall, looking up and down the tiles of the wall. The scenes depicted were of kingdoms, rising and falling, wars, alliances, betrayals. The entire recorded history of the dragon race. Some parts were blank or uneventful, having no records from that time, but others were so detailed that it felt like you could walk right into the world created.

"_It's like I am traveling though time."_ Lyr thought, amused at the concept. Finally, he reached a time he recognised. A scene he had heard over and over again in stories and poems.

A huge purple dragon, of a reddish hue stood with a crystal of darkness in one upraised paw, and a ball of purple flame in the other. A crown of horns crested his head, and his tail was bladed like an axe. Two young dragons stood in front of him, crouched in a battle stance and chained together by the neck with a green chain of magic. One was a light purple in colour, while the other was black. In the background a wall of fire stretched across the land, and a giant figure of rock and magma was climbing an erupting volcano. The beast was almost as large as the mountain it scaled.

"Wow." Lyrith gasped, awed at the sight. _"So this is the battle between Malefor, Spyro and Cynder when they were trying to save the world. I didn't expect Malefor to be so… so big. He is as frightening as I always imagined him."_

"Would you get out of here, Snowy, you're ruining the view with your hideous white hide!" A voice sneered from the other side of the great hall. Lyrith turned around, his fangs barred in a frustrated snarl. Wintra two more of Torch's other cronies stalked across the hall, towards him. Wintra had a disgusted grimace on her face, yet even that failed to ruin her flawless appearance. She stopped in front of Lyrith. The other two, a brawny ice dragon, and a stick thin fire dragoness stood behind her, their condescending sneers further aggravating the white.

"What do you want, Icicle?" Lyrith sighed, letting his anger fade. He turned back to the mural and started walking along it, paying no mind to the three bullies behind him. Wintra growled at Lyr's indifference to their presence and followed after him. She was just a little smaller than he was, and she quickly over took the Albino with a fast trot. She turned and stopped in front of him barring his way. Her two grunts took their place beside her a second later.

"Don't you ignore me, Milky." The ice dragoness declared, setting herself firmly, as if she expected Lyrith to try and force her out of the way. "Nobody ignores me."

Lyrith yawned and blinked several times as if tired. The then stuck a claw in his ear frill and wriggled it around.

"Sorry, did you say something?" He asked bored. Wintra seethed at the remark, and Lyrith felt a surge of satisfaction at her response.

"What I said, you pale iguana," Wintra hissed, glaring at Lyrith, "is that I am surprised you are still standing here, when I hear you've got yourself a date with Sleet."

"Wait, what?" Lyr asked, startled.

"Yes," Wintra hissed, smirking at his shocked expression. "I hear you and that small fry are going out, Miss Lyrith. I don't know what he sees in you. You must be the ugliest chick in the Temple."

Lyrith's red eyes narrowed as she spoke, and her expression became more and more smug as she talked.

"You have the figure, but those scars really are a turn off. And those eyes, blah! Not to mention your face is too masculine! Why I wouldn't be surprise if you were a guy, if I hadn't already seen your massive cun…"

"Not like you got anything on me, girl." Lyrith suddenly cut in, his normally deep voice suddenly much higher in pitch and more effeminate. He flipped his head in a very girly gesture of superiority and glared at the stunned dragons.

"That sash so doesn't go with your scale colour, and you jewellery is so gaudy! Ugh. You must have the fashion sense of a drunken Ape!"

"Wh…What!" Wintra asked, incredulously as Lyr shifted his body to accentuate his feminine features.

"Are you deaf too, girl?" Lyr demanded, continuing his act, highly amused at the shocked expressions they made as he played along with their insult, completely throwing them off guard. "I wouldn't be surprised; you must be blind with your choice of cape. That red totally clashes with your eyes. You should be ashamed!"

Wintra and her two friends stood in disbelief as Lyrith berated the Queen of Ice, using their insult to launch jibe after jibe at them while they tried to recover.

Finally, satisfied that he had gotten his point across, Lyrith huffed, tossed his head and strutted away, tossing one final insult back at them.

"I think you and your ratty style should dump yourself in a trash bin, where it belongs...Girl!"

"You… You… ugly freak!" Wintra shouted back to Lyrith as he strutted away, exaggerating his lower body movements so that his hips swung from side to side, imitating the pompous stride many females used to attract males. "You won't be so smug when the exams are over! You hear! They will tear you apart!"

But Lyrith had already vanished out of the great hall, and even if he heard her weak comeback, made no attempt to counter it. Wintra stood for a moment, fuming, and when she was sure the Albino was gone, howled in rage. She turned and overturned the nearest object she could lift, which was nothing more than a small set of drawers nearby. She growled and glared at the two companions who she had brought with her, daring them to comment on the events that had taken place. Neither made any response, managing successfully to hide their amused expressions.

"That bleached snake will get what he deserves soon enough." Wintra huffed, calming herself with the thought. "Now then, back to what we were doing."

Wintra looked around and sighed. "Where in the ancestor's name is Torch?"

The moment Lyrith was out of sight of Wintra and her goons he immediately relaxed, returning to his normal pattern of walking. He smirked at the memory of her face when he had decided to go along with their ploy, acting the part to ruin the impact of their insult. It had been a bit awkward, talking and moving like a female, not to mention more than a little embarrassing, but the result had gotten its desired effect.

"That bitch never saw it coming!" Lyrith snickered. He started when he found that he was still using the female voice he had adopted, and quickly coughed a few times to get his voice sorted out. "That bitch never saw it coming." Lyr repeated in his normal tone of voice. He nodded, satisfied and then sped up his pace, wanting to put as much distance between him and Wintra as possible in case she decided to chase after him.

Lyr left the Temple halls and exited out into the gardens. It was still stormy out, but the wind was muffled by the many trees and high walls that surrounded the Dragon Temple like a shell. The garden he had stepped out onto was fairly clear of trees, and was almost entirely covered in beds of flowers. The wind being rougher here, Lyr quickly moved into one of the more forested gardens, away from the wind.

The white enjoyed his night excursions. Normally he would be flying about the Temple at this time of night, examining every nook and cranny he could find. But with the powerful winds, and dark clouds approaching on the horizon, he didn't want to take the chance of losing control while flying. So he would be walking instead.

The forested garden he strode into was thick with large trees, easily weakening the wind and leaving Lyrith unruffled in its midst. He sighed in relief as he was released from the stormy wind.

He padded through the garden, enjoying the fresh feel that the place brought him. He had rarely had time to be one with nature with his busy school life and enjoyed the experience whenever he could. The trees swayed in the wind and the smell of rain was growing slowly stronger as he wandered the Temple grounds.

Lyrith had been manoeuvring his way through a particularly dense and swampy garden, known as Lily Pad Grove, when an odd sound caught his attention. He stopped and tried to focus on it, but the wind made the task difficult. When he didn't hear it again, the Albino shrugged and continued on. It was less than a minute later when the sound came again, this time louder. Lyr stopped in his tracks as the sound registered. It was a low growl.

Instantly on the alert, he moved off in search of the noise. He wound his way through the trees of Lily Pad Grove, following the occasional sound towards his destination. It was irregular and odd sounding. There was only the occasional growl or gasp. Curiosity drove Lyr onwards now, as he found the closer he moved, the more sounds he could hear.

At first it was only the growls and gasps, but soon he heard grunting, panting and a rhythmic thumping sound as he moved closer towards the source of the noise. He was just nearing the noise, when a low groan of satisfaction, followed by a muffled sob emanated out from in front of Lyr. The sounds belonged to different voices, one of which he recognized.

A second later, the source of the sound came into view, and Lyrith stopped and crouched, keeping himself hidden. Torch stood above the prone form of Voltlyn, panting, his normally pristine cape and sashes were ruffled and his jewellery askew. A smug smirk was etched across his features.

Voltlyn however, lay weeping silently on the ground, she was covered in small cuts, and her body was bruised in several places. She shivered in the cold, and a gooey, white substance was encrusted to her rear. She scooted away from Torch, tears running down her face, accompanied by muffled whimpers. Her body was racked with the sobs she tried to hold in.

The realisation of what had occurred dawned on Lyrith instantly. Connecting the sounds he had heard to the sight before him.

"_He forced himself on her!"_ Lyr raged, his body tensing, blood red eyes flashing. _"That self-righteous ass forces himself on a female and has the nerve to look so… so happy! I will destroy him! I will rip his heart out!"_

Images flashed before Lyr's eyes.

_Three young dragons surrounding a teenaged Lyr, who lay beaten on the ground, whimpering. They laughed as they propped Lyrith up and moved into position…_

_An adolescent female white lying unmoving in an alleyway while a group of dragons walked away, laughing. A pool of blood soaked into the stone as Lyr wept over her…_

_The Mother, holding a small whip, leering down at Lyrith who quivered in his seat, too frightened to move…_

The train of memories were suddenly broken as he watched Torch lean down over to Voltlyn's head, and whisper something to her. She quivered, and then nodded. Satisfied, the red prince stood up, straightened his cape and padded away, whistling cheerfully.

The rage and hate in Lyr's heart intensified a hundred fold as the prince walked away, as if nothing could touch him. For a moment, Lyrith contemplated attacking Torch from behind, and mauling him until he could never do what he had just done again. Then he gave up the idea. He forced the rage down to consider facts, a feat that was a hard as swallowing a boulder the size of his torso with one bite, and just as painful.

"_If I attack him now, then I will likely be banished from the Temple, and I will never get another chance to be where I am now. And there is likely something else going on that I don't know about. If I just jump in there, for all I know I could be making things worse"_

Lyrith immediately ruled out a consensual mating, as Voltlyn was still crying. Though she was no longer holding back now that Torch was gone.

"_If they had been into fake rape then she would have stopped crying by now" _Lyrith reasoned, _"And she would have gone with him. So that can't be it."_

Lyrith considered as many other options as he could think of as he watched Voltlyn get up unsteadily from her position and crawl across the ground to a nearby pond, sobbing the whole way. Lyr felt a sudden welling of pity for her, an emotion he had rarely felt in his time at the orphanage. She had just been abused, in the most hideous way possible, and yet for some reason she seemed resigned to it. As if it was her fate or duty to go through with it. The defeat in her gaze redoubled Lyr's hatred towards Torch, who he now saw as a personal enemy.

Voltlyn reached the pond crawling on her belly, and slid into it. She waded into the center of the pond and started scrubbing the residue off, determinedly cleaning all evidence of the violation from her body. Lyrith watched her from the underbrush, trying to decide what to do. Clearly Torch had raped her, and if the Guardians were alerted, they would likely exile Torch from the Temple forever. But Voltlyn also showed that she, for whatever reason, was hiding the fact, was likely to defend Torch if he was accused. Without any solid proof, Lyr would look like a fool trying to get the prince in trouble. Not only would he likely receive punishment instead, but would also likely make things worse off for Voltlyn once all suspicion of Voltlyn's rape had been banished. Lyr could not go to the Guardians for help now. Not unless she confessed to Torch's crime.

"_I have to know."_ Lyrith thought, his eyes locked onto Voltlyn, who was now merely sniffing and hiccupping instead of her previous sobs. _"I have to know if she will confess, I have to know whether or not he has any hold on her."_

Now fully determined, Lyrith stepped out of the underbrush and into the small clearing Voltlyn was washing in. She immediately stiffened her tense state likely aiding her in sensing him so quickly. She turned slowly, and looked at him. She relaxed momentarily upon seeing him glad he wasn't Torch coming back for another round, and then abruptly flushed and dove into the water. The sight of her, hiding in vain under the water, only her eyes and nostrils staying above the surface might have been amusing to Lyrith had the situation not been so dire. He forced a warm smile, managing not to look threatening, and greeted the yellow dragoness.

"Hello, um… Voltlyn right? What are you doing here?"

Voltlyn's head rose above the water, her face flushed.

"I… Uh… I was just taking a swim. That's all." She replied, trying and failing to sound cheerful. "So... Um… What are you doing here?"

Lyr wondered for a moment at why she would be so embarrassed, and then it dawned on him. He had just walked in to a female washing herself. The Albino flushed back, his face turning a bright red. He coughed awkwardly, but held his grin.

"I was just going for a night stroll, when I heard some crying from this direction. Was that you? Are you okay?" Lyrith asked, feigning ignorance, hoping she would confess to what he already knew. Voltlyn shook her head frantically, eyes suddenly wild, all embarrassment gone.

"N… No, I'm fine. Perfectly happy." She grinned, sitting up in the water now. Lyrith eyed her wounds doubtfully.

"Then why are you covered in scratches?" He asked, and Voltlyn immediately hid herself in the water again.

"Oh… Th-those? I was just… I was just taking a stroll, and fell into a rose bush. They hurt a lot." She added, hoping Lyrith would leave the subject alone. Lyr mentally snarled at her stubbornness on the subject.

"They look more like claw marks to me." Lyr said, a touch of anger entering his voice as the memory of finding her with Torch rose again to his mind. Voltlyn balked.

"They… They were really big thorns! Huge!" She explained desperately, "Like claws. That's why they look like claw wounds."

"I see." Lyrith grunted. _"You're a terrible liar."_ He thought as he turned away. He didn't bother to point out the obvious bite wounds on her neck, or the smudges of white goo on her face as he slowly walked away. She would have denied them anyway.

When Lyrith reached the line of trees surrounding he turned back to face her. She had sat back up relief on her face as he had left; now she stiffened again as he spoke to her.

"Good night Voltlyn. It was nice meeting you. I certainly hope you don't fall into any more **rose bushes** again." He turned with a jerk, his anger seeping off of him as he stormed away, leaving Voltlyn behind to wash away the evidence of a crime she would never admit to.

"_What have you done to her Torch to so badly break her?"_ Lyr demanded silently as he padded back to the Temple entrance. _"Whatever it is, I will find out, and then, once I have fixed up the mess you've made of Voltlyn. I will bring you to your knees and have you beg for mercy. Of which you deserve none."_

Lyrith reached the Temple, his thoughts churning as he made his way back up to his room, trying to think of what could have happened to Voltlyn to make her hold her tongue.

He passed by a window and looked down. Far below he could see the figure of a topaz dragoness, slowly slinking her way back into the Temple. And Lyr's chest tightened in anger at the hopelessness she must be feeling, and in frustration at the inability to do anything about it.

"_Don't worry Voltlyn."_ Lyrith promised as he watched her enter the Temple from high above. _"I will find out what is holding you back, and break that chain. I swear it." _

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang: (Lyrith, Sleet, Savron, Tirren, Igneous, Zindy, Typhous)

Torch's gang: (Torch, Voltlyn, Wintra)

Happy birthday! I'm turning 18! Woohoo! This is my present to all of you, so I hope you enjoyed it.

And with that out of my system, on to the note. This chapter was a bit difficult for me to write. Not necessarily because it was bad (which it wasn't), but because it was a set up chapter. No not a filler chapter, too many important things are happening here to be called that, a set up chapter is setting up the plot to come (as its name implies). Sleet's training, Savron's adventure, and Lyr's side plot to save Voltlyn from Torch, and get the bastard back for abusing her, are all plot points of importance to come.

So, thanks for reading. The next chapter looks to be the longest one yet (at some 46 hand written pages. Six or so more than chapter 10), so while it may take a while, it will be worth the wait in the end.


	15. Secrets

Chapter 15. Secrets.

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, the temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are… are… YOU again. Didn't get enough from last time huh? Well come on! Bring it! I've got my bat right over… oh crap… No, not the face! AAARRRRGGHH…._

The sun had risen several hours ago, but was now cloaked in a shroud of dark and dreary clouds. A light pattering of rain splattered against Savron's window, like a soft drumbeat. The purple was up and about his room, having risen early to prepare for his adventure. Now, hours later, he had everything he deemed necessary sorted out. His room was completely clean, and all of his supplies were sitting by his door, having been brought back with him from the storage room.

He tied the last knot in the sack and then slung it over his back. He checked to make sure that it was secure before leaving his room. He was about to close the door behind him when he heard the soft snuffles of his parents, who slept peacefully up in their hanging bed.

For a moment, Savron considered the idea of waking them up to tell them about his adventure. He did not want to get in trouble for frightening them, and then he dismissed it. At this point waking those up would only irritate the two, and in such a mood, they would forbid him from going on this meticulously planned exploration. But, he also did not want them to ground him again, so Sav slipped back into his room, wrote a note which he placed on his desk, clearly labeled to his parents, and snuck back out. He glided down to the exit, and slipped out. He allowed himself a small yawn before setting out to the kitchen, where he hoped to meet up with his friends.

The kitchen was sparsely populated in the cool grey morning. A lot of the students seemed disappointed that their day off had to be so miserable. But at his table, Savron could see Tirren, Lyrith, Sleet and Typhous chatting cheerfully amongst themselves. Grinning, he trotted over and plopped himself down on a cushion, dropping the bag down beside him.

"Hello." Savron smiled mischievously. "How are you doing today, beautiful?" he reached over to Tirren and placed a paw over one of hers. She snatched her paw away, and glowered at him.

"Go get your breakfast and choke on it, Sav. You're starting to get on my nerves."

"I love you too, Rin." Savron chuckled. He scooted away before the emerald earth dragoness could hit him. Tirren sighed and shook her head. Lyr put a paw to his muzzle to keep from laughing, and faked a cough to cover it. Tirren turned to glare at Lyr, who was so startled by the vehemence in her glare that he choked and actually started coughing. Tirren huffed and tossed her head, a smile breaking over her features as Lyrith recovered from his coughs.

Everyone snickered at the exchange and even Lyrith joined in once he caught his breath. It was not long before Zindy joined them at the table, carrying a sack of supplies which she placed beside Savron's.

"Alright! Sowhenarewegoing?" Zindy spouted, eagerly bouncing up and down on her cushion.

"Once we're done eating." Savron replied swallowing a mouthful of turkey stuffing he had swiped off of Igneous's plate. "You guys brought everything?"

"Yep." Igneous confirmed, shifting his plate just out of the purple's reach as he tried to grab a chicken leg. Savron pouted. "Zindy and I have the armour right here." The burly red said, hoisting the sack that lay beside the table and then letting it fall to the floor with a clang.

"I have all of the ropes, chalk, torches, quills, and so on with me here." Tirren patted the sack strapped to her side.

"Great. Then once our meal is done, we're all set to go." Savron eyed Sleet and Lyrith, who were finishing their meals without talk. "You guys sure you don't want to go? I get why, but…"

Lyrith shook his head, and Sleet followed suit a moment later. Savron sighed.

"A pity, really. You should really come along next time Lyrith. I think you would like our little adventures."

The group returned to their meal, Savron leaving the table to grab his meal before digging into it with gusto. They ate with next to no chatter, wanting to be done quickly so they could set off. Lyrith and Sleet on the other hand, ate slowly, their minds dwelling on different matters.

Sleet was busy worrying about his exam, and the harsh training to come. While Lyrith contemplated the scene he had witnessed the night before. He was still as furious as he was then, only now he focused he fury on trying to reason out why she would deny it.

_"She could just be embarrassed about being molested." _Lyr thought to himself as he ate, trying to appear nonchalant._ "After all, who would want anybody to know you had been abused like that... But I don't think that is it. She seemed too frightened, too submissive. There has to be something else, I am sure of it. If only I knew what..."_

"Hey Lyr, why do you look so down?" Zindy asked slowly, leaning over to look closer into the Albino's face. Lyr started back in shock.

"What? Oh, no reason. Just thinking."

"You look angry while you think." Zindy giggled. "Like this." The energetic lightning dragoness crunched her face into a dark, pouty scowl, and Lyr couldn't help but smile at the face.

"She got you right on the mark." Savron laughed, swallowing the last of his food. The others finished soon after and, stretching, made to leave, picking up their bags and slinging them over their backs.

"See you guys later! Have fun training." Savron called over his shoulder. They moved out of the kitchen quickly, the eyes of all of the students in the kitchen following them curiously. Behind him, Savron heard Lyr and Sleet give their farewells, and then Lyrith speak to the ice dragon.

"Speaking of training, we will meet just after lunch. That is when my interview with Deran ends."

Whatever response Sleet made was lost as a Savron walked past a large group of students heading towards the kitchen. Savron and his gang slipped out into the hall, and the kitchen was lost from sight.

They found the nearest landing pad, and with their equipment strapped securely on their backs took off. They circled down the Temple, following Savron's lead as he glided past the Temple walls down to the forest far below.

Tirren and Igneous glanced at each other nervously, hoping their purple friend knew what he was doing. As he reached the top of the mushroom forest canopy, Savron suddenly veered left, turning sharply towards the mountain that the Temple was built on. Igneous, Tirren, Typhous and Zindy all followed him, keeping close. They dodged through the mushroom caps and landed on a stone overhang which jutted out of the cliff side, just beneath the canopy.

Several caves were bored into the rock and lead from where they stood into the mountain. The area was shadowed from sunlight and it was mostly hidden from view by the massive stalks and caps of the mushroom forest. Anyone who didn't know the way would find it difficult to get to. A small staircase was carved into the side of the mountain, and lead down to the forest floor.

"How did you find this place?" Tirren asked, marveling at the sight of the caves and the view she had from the overhang. Savron smirked.

"Igneous and I were exploring this part of the swamp a few years back. We caught sight of the stairs and followed them up. We didn't explore much of the caves at the time, but we did use them to store some of our treasures we found on our adventures. We sort of forgot about it when students started coming here for learning. It was only recently that I rediscovered it, and learned that the entrance to the old Temple catacombs was somewhere in there."

"So now we are going to explore a place untouched for nearly thirty years?" Typhous asked a troubled look to his features. "A place sacred to the dragon race, and full of relics from eons past?"

"Yep!" Savron smiled, his fangs showing in a playful grin. "It will be our best adventure yet, just like those stories of heroes bravely delving into forgotten tombs. It will be a blast!"

"This sounds a bit more risky than your usual plan, Sav." Tirren said, showing concern as well. "Is this really a good idea?"

"Don't go having second thoughts now, Rin!" Savron cried, alarmed at the troubled looks his friends were giving him. "I'm not saying we steal anything! Only that we uncover some relics to show the Guardians that their old home really still does exist! They will be ecstatic!"

"Well, if you put it that way I suppose that there is some sense in this plan of yours." Tirren sighed, reluctantly.

"Ohboy! Ican'twait! Whatdoyouthinkwewillfind? Treasure? Gold? Goldentreasure?" Zindy exploded into excited bouncing. Savron smiled.

"Who knows? And that's the best part! There could be anything down there, maybe stuff the Guardians didn't even know about. The catacombs were hardly touched even when the Guardians still lived in the old Temple!"

Igneous grinned at Tirren's still exasperated expression. "Oh come on, it'll be fun. You have to admit, it does sound exciting."

Tirren smiled back, still a little unsure. Igneous took the sack off of his back and dumped its contents onto the ground. A cascade of metal armour clanged against the stone. Two helmets, two chain-mail suits, several sets of leg-guards, a number of neck-guards, and a backplate. Zindy also dumped her much smaller sack into the pile. A few more leg-guards, making five sets, two backplates and another helmet.

The five sorted through the armour, picking out the pieces they felt they would need. Savron and Igneous wore the chain-mail suits, leg-guards and a neck-guard a piece. While Tirren, Typhous and Zindy all wore leg-guards, neck-guards, backplates and helmets.

Zindy bounced around the overhang, her slightly overlarge helmet bouncing with each movement.

"Weregoingonanadventure! Weregoingonanandventure!"

Tirren took out a torch and handed to Igneous, who blew a steady flame over it until it ignited. He then gripped the torch in his jaws, keeping the flame well away from his eyes. Typhous also took a torch, and with Savron's aid, lit it.

"Alright guys!" Savron called out to his friends, drawing their attention. "Let's move out. Follow my lead, Igneous, stay close behind, I will need the light."

* * *

Sleet sighed as he turned a corner into another long, torch lit hallway. Two hours had passed since Savron and his group had left on their adventure, and Sleet was bored out of his mind. He had finished all of his homework, all of his small projects and found there was nothing left to do. Without Savron to keep him entertained, and with Lyrith's training program still an hour and a half away, the young, three horned ice dragon could think of nothing to do to occupy his time.

He sighed again and turned yet another corner only to find himself in the art gallery. Somehow, every time he was bored, he wandered over into the art gallery. He didn't know why this was the case, he wasn't a very artistic soul, yet this place had always intrigued him.

It was a large series of rooms, all full of various forms of artwork. Statues, models, paintings, and every other form of visual art the mind could conceive were displayed here. Most of it was created by professionals, and donated to the Temple to display for all the wealthy nobles who visited. But many were done by the staff itself, and even a few were created by students. Zindy herself had contributed nearly a dozen pieces to the collection. All of her works were vibrant and colourful, yet despite their seemingly erratic nature they had a strange kind of order about them that attracted the eye.

Sleet caught sight of one such piece as he walked around the rooms, and padded over to examine it. It was a model of large proportions, with hundreds of tiny panes of glass attached to glass stalks connected it to a rotating metal pole. Even without the pole moving it was a fascinating sight.

Sleet smiled at the sculpture, it was one of his favourites. He took the handle of the rotating mechanism and wound up the gears until the glass of the sculpture starting spinning. It moved faster and faster until the colours were a blur. Sleet positioned himself to one side of the sculpture, moving so that the light of a nearby torch shone through the dazzling colours. As if by magic, the colours seemed to condense into a moving picture. A dragon flew, beating its wings in a slow steady rhythm. There was no sound as the dragon flew, on and on and on in an endless loop. It repeated the same motion again and again, until the rotation stopped, it was incredible to watch.

_"Zindy is such a genius."_ Sleet thought as he watched the image slow to a stop. _"She can take scrap metal, some broken glass and gears and make a moving picture. How is it possible?"_

A sudden sound caught Sleet's attention and he looked away from the machine. Torch and Wintra stood in the gallery entrance. Sleet froze as they wandered over to him, each wearing a friendly smile.

"Why hello Sleet! It has been a while hasn't it." Torch chuckled dryly.

"What are you doing here, Torch?" Sleet growled, trying to sound menacing, but failing terribly. Torch's grin widened.

"Why else? I came here to enjoy the art! Just as I assume you have."

Sleet glared at Torch suspiciously, and the red prince laughed.

"Come now! You can't expect me to have some kind of ulterior motive for everything I do!" Torch strutted over to a magnificent painting of Avalar.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did." Sleet mumbled, keeping his voice low enough to avoid being heard.

"You know Sleet, I never really understood you." Torch muttered, tilting his head to one side to examine the painting from a different angle. "You belong to a wealthy and well respected merchant family. You have the best education money can buy, and you are about to fail."

Sleet opened his muzzle to ask where Torch had heard that, but the prince cut him off.

"And it isn't even because you aren't smart either. You are one of the brightest students in the Temple, it is because you can't fight." Torch turned to Sleet, a puzzled look on his features. "And then you go and do the strangest thing. You ask an Albino for help when there are plenty of talented ice dragons who would gladly teach you."

"Lyrith beat Thunder." Sleet interrupted, frowning at Torch's speech. "That is more than most dragons can say."

Torch nodded in agreement. "Yes, he did beat Thunder, but could Snowy really teach you about magic? He has none of his own, so why him?"

Sleet was taken aback by Torch's argument. He tried to find an appropriate response but the fire dragon continued on, preventing any argument from the ice dragon.

"He is a relatively skilled melee fighter to be sure, but that is not what you want to learn, right? You want to train your magic, which by the way is the strongest in the Temple, even greater than my own. How can he help you? A powerless lizard, train the most powerful in the Temple? Absurd!"

The young ice dragon could not think of an answer to that. Torch was right, Lyrith could not teach him about magic, which was Sleet's only skill. What was the sense in training under him?

Torch gasped as an idea struck him. "I know! Wintra here..." He pecked the slim ice dragoness on the forehead with a small kiss, she purred in pleasure. "Is the best in the Temple when it comes to control over ice magic. **She** could train you."

Sleet stared at Torch incredulously. Torch chuckled at his shocked expression.

"Oh come now. It is not such a bad offer. You get trained, and get to stay at the Temple with all of your friends. All I ask is that you leave Milky and come train under us instead. Nothing more, I swear it. After all, would you rather stay under the Albino, who knows nothing of magic, and fail? Or be trained by the best, and stay at your school with Savron and your buddies?"

"I... I don't know..." Sleet stammered, still overcome by his conflicting desires to stay at the Temple, and to turn away and leave. Torch patted Sleet on the shoulder.

"Think about it. The offer will be open until exams. But remember, the longer you stay under Whitey's wing, the more likely you are to fail." Torch turned and padded from the room. Wintra moved to follow, but stopped and winked at Sleet.

"If you change your mind, sweetie, we will be in the gardens every afternoon." She turned back and strutted from the room, hips swaying suggestively as she went. Sleet watched her go with a blush, and then sat down, confused at the welter of thoughts crowding his brain.

_"What should I do? I want to stay here, with all of my friends. But I don't want to hurt Lyr's feelings... I wish you guys were here to help me out..."_

* * *

Savron led his small group through the system of caverns. The stone tunnels were wet and the walls carpeted with moss. Echoes of dripping water bounced around the cave, shattering the near dead silence. Tirren stepped up to a wall and scraped some of the moss away with her claws. She then drew an arrow of chalk pointing back the way they had come.

Satisfied that it would be clearly visible, even in the dim light of the torches they carried, Tirren returned to the group, who had moved on ahead. They had entered the caverns nearly an hour and a half ago, and had still found no sign of the old Temple ruins. They had found all manner of caves and passages along the way, but they had held nothing of interest and led nowhere in particular. But despite the depressing lack of action, Savron was still confident that they would find their destination soon.

However, the deeper into the caves they ventured, the quieter they became. The oppressing feeling of the mountain pressing down above them, combined with the tension of the adventure and the already unnaturally silent cave quelled any attempts of talk the group may have had. Even Zindy, the chatter box with everything to say and little time to say it, made next to no sound as they explored.

The group moved on down the tunnel, eying the cave walls for any sign of unnatural rock formations, all the while occasionally stopping to mark the passage they had taken to help find their way back.

Suddenly a fork in the tunnel emerged, forcing the group to stop. They had found many such forks along the way, most of them had led to a dead end, forcing the young dragons to make their way back and check another route.

Savron glanced down the two paths, sniffing the air hoping to detect some hint as to where to go. He found none. The purple turned back to his friends.

"Vote. Which way do we go?" He asked, in a whisper. The group convened for a moment, muttering. After a few seconds, Igneous pointed down the left tunnel. Savron nodded and moved on. Tirren paused to mark the way they had come, before rushing after the group.

They had only walked for a few minutes before the light of Igneous's torch fell on the rubble of a cave-in. The way they were heading was blocked.

"Another dead end." Typhous sighed, around the torch he carried. He turned to leave.

"Tirren!" Savron hissed, motioning for the green dragoness to come with him to the cave-in. Typhous paused to watch as Tirren complied. Savron nodded to her, she reared up on her hind legs and placed her forepaws on the rock. Her body glowed a brilliant green and small waves of magic pulsed through the rocks.

"What is she doing?" Zindy asked quietly in the silence.

"She is checking to see if there is a cave or tunnel behind the cave-in." Savron answered, watching Tirren work. "She feels out the formation of stone around her, and can tell if there is a cave nearby."

Tirren's eyes snapped open and she turned to face the group.

"There's a cave behind this, and it is not naturally made." She whispered, excited. Savron grinned.

"Can you remove the rubble?"

"It is fairly stable. But it will still need some support while I dig. The vibrations may cause it to collapse if it isn't supported."

"Then I will support it while you dig." Savron declared, moving towards the rubble. Tirren nodded. Savron moved into position, and placed his front paws on the stones. His body glowed a muted green, not quite as vibrant as Tirren's, but still strong. The stones of the rubble started glowing in a similar fashion, now supported by his earth magic.

Tirren felt around the rocks for a bit, and then finding a place by Savron that was weaker than the others, she started to dig. Her front paws glowed green as she started scooping pawfuls of rock out like mud and tunnelling her way through. She carelessly tossed the rocks behind her and her friends scattered to avoid the projectiles. After a minute, she stopped and glared at Savron, who she had noticed was taking the time to ogle her.

"Would you stop staring at my ass, Savron?" She growled, glowering at him. Savron tore his eyes away from her rump, and smiled.

"But it is such a nice ass. I can't help but admire it!"

Tirren threw a stone at Savron as hard as she could. He ducked it and laughed. He then turned his gaze away and focused at the task at hand, only looking her over on occasion when he thought she wasn't looking.

Tirren started again, tunnelling her way slowly through the stone. She drilled through the rock like a machine, scooping out pawful after pawful of rock to make a wide gap. Savron gritted his fangs as she did this.

"You're sloppy Rin! You're causing too many vibrations."

"Shut up Sav!" Tirren called back to Savron, now only her rear portion was visible, much to the purple's delight. "Surely you aren't such a wuss as to complain about the few tiny vibrations I'm making."

"These vibrations are about as tiny as your hips." Savron grunted.

"I head that!" Tirren called back, swatting Savron with her tail.

"Hey! That was a compliment!" He shouted, smirking.

Tirren soon vanished through the rubble, the shower of stones still pouring out of the hole like a fountain. Several minutes later, the shower of stone halted, and Tirren's voice echoed back thought the hole.

"It's all clear! The rocks should hold fine. You can come through!"

Savron released his magic with a sigh of relief, and stretched his muscles to relieve the tension. Zindy was the first through the hole; she easily sped through and was lost from view. Typhous followed next, while Igneous and Savron took up the rear.

Savron scrambled out of the hole behind his crimson friend, and came to a stop beside Tirren, his jaw falling open in awe. The cavern wasn't large, it was barely half of the size of the student kitchens, but it was the massive stone statue in the centre of the room that took their breath away.

The dragon statue stood well above the young dragons. Its enormous horned head nearly touching the ceiling. It was carved from one massive piece of marble, and was detailed down to the individual scales. It stared down at the explorers with calm indifference. It looked like it could come alive at any moment.

The walls of the room were carved and smooth. Supporting arches and pillars held up the roof, all the while adding to the mystical air of the room. Several passageways led out into other portions of the ruins.

"Amazing." Savron whispered, breathless with excitement. "So this is the Temple catacombs."

"Thisissocool." Zindy murmured, returning to her natural quick paced speech.

"For once Sav," Tirren breathed, her eyes wandering around the room, "I think you may have actually done something useful."

Savron smirked. "You can stroke my **ego** when we're alone, Rin, but for now let's explore!"

The green glared at Savron, and sighed in exasperation.

"Which way now, Sav?" Igneous asked, dropping the torch so he could speak.

"Let's split up into two groups. You lead one, I will lead the other."

"I'm with Igneous!" Tirren declared, moving to the red's side. Savron scowled at the green dragoness, who stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll go with Sav then." Typhous opted, and Zindy followed the grey dragon to Savron's side.

"Alright then." Savron grunted, looking for a path he would take. "I will go there; down the left one."

"Then **we** will take the right one." Tirren insisted. Igneous glanced down at Tirren, puzzled at her forceful demands, but he said nothing. The two groups split up the supplies, and then moved off, Igneous picking up the fallen torch as he and Tirren went down their passage way.

Savron stamped ahead of his group, grumbling under his breath. Behind him Zindy skipped along, examining every rock and crevice, the torch held in her jaws the only thing preventing her from chittering about her findings. Typhous took up the rear, having shouldered half of their group's supplies, the other half being carried by Savron.

"Uh, Sav, are you alright?" He called down the passage to his purple friend. Savron glanced back at the grey, and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He turned back away, and his grumblings ceased. They padded along the narrow hall, finding no alternative routes to take along the way.

They had been walking for over ten minutes when the pathway opened up into a large room. Unlike the previous room, this one was separated by broken down walls, smashed pillars and dusty, worn down furniture. A spiral staircase spun up to the floor above, it was missing a few steps but appeared to be intact. Large holes were broken through the roof, and Savron could vaguely see into the floor above. Old mouldy bones lay strewn across the floor in small heaps. In the dim light Savron could not make out what they used to be.

"Okay gang, spread out. Search for anything that might be important. Check in the rubble too, something might be buried under there."

Savron lit two more torches, one for both him and Typhous. They then moved out into the ruined room. With the flaming brand clamped in his jaws, Savron passed by a pile of bones. He glanced down at them, hoping to determine their origins. They were small, but thick; scraps of cloth and old dusty weapons lay nearby. He caught sight of a skull, and stopped to take a closer look. The Ape skull stared back at him with malice, as if hoping to scare the purple intruder off.

"Apes, huh, maybe they got trapped down here when Malefor destroyed the Temple." Savron mused as he turned away, leaving the dusty bones behind.

A rustling of movement caused him to jerk back around. He cast around, looking for the source of the noise. All he could see was the ruins of the room, his two friends in the distance, searching for valuables, and the bones of the deceased Apes lying around the room. Savron sighed in relief.

A rasping, high pitched chittering rang through the air, and Savron whirled to face the noise. He took a step back at the sight of the vestige before him, his eyes widening with horror.

"Oh shit."

* * *

Tirren and Igneous walked silently down the passage way. They had encountered many small side passages and cave, but all had been either empty, or had led to a dead end. The twisting, winding passage they followed was furnished only by the moss that clung to the smooth walls, and the dust that coated everything within sight.

Tirren plodded along behind Igneous, having shouldered the entire pack of supplies herself. Igneous carried the torch and led the way. Tirren watched her companion with interest, noting the way he moved, and how he never seemed to falter in his stride. How the muscles seemed to ripple beneath his scales with every movement.

Blood rushed to her face as Tirren realised she had been staring, and quickly looked away.

_"I'm alone with him."_ Tirren though suddenly. _"I haven't been alone with him since we walked in the gardens together. Maybe now I should tell him..."_

"Hey Tirren, look!" Igneous exclaimed around the torch, breaking her train of thought. "A room! Finally!"

They left the passage way and entered into a huge chamber. It was nearly twice the size of the great hall in the new Dragon Temple. It stretched out in all directions for scores of meters. Towering columns, statues and arches soared up to the roof. Many were broken from when the upper half of the Temple had been torn away from the mountain side, more than twenty years ago, but still more remained intact.

"Wow." Igneous sighed in breathless wonder. Tirren echoed his statement. They stepped tentatively into the room, feeling dwarfed by the sheer size of everything, and then continued on with slightly more confidence. They stepped around the structures as if the slightest disturbance would cause it to crumble. Rubble was strewn everywhere, making it difficult to walk in places.

The two wandered around the room for a bit, before a glance at Igneous reminded Tirren of her previous thoughts.

"Hey, um... Igneous...?" Tirren called over to the red drake, who was picking his way around a pile of debris.

"Yes?" He called back, glancing quickly over to the emerald dragoness.

_"This is it Rin."_ Tirren thought, taking a few breaths to steady herself. _"Don't screw up now."_

"I just wanted to tell you..."

He waited patiently, eyeing her curiously.

"I wanted to tell you that... That maybe we should go and check over there!" Tirren blurted, pointing over to a nearby portion of the wall where a pile of rubble stacked up against a wall.

Igneous looked over to where she had pointed and squinted. He caught sight of a faint glimmer in that direction, and then nodded in agreement. He moved off quickly towards the pile of rubble, leaving Tirren behind to mentally kick herself.

_"You idiot! You stupid worthless iguana! You were that close to telling him how you really feel! How could you waste it on something so... so pointless!"_

Tirren sighed in disappointment and followed after Igneous. The area Tirren had pointed out was sparsely surrounded by statues and arches. The pile of rubble lay against one wall, and spread out across the floor in a heap, it appeared as if it used to be a portion of the ceiling.

As they approached, the faint glimmer grew until it was clearly visible in the torch light. They sped up their pace, feeling excitement building up to a crescendo as they approached the area. Tirren's earlier disappointment was numbed at the prospect of finally discovering something in the ruins. They raced through the scattering of statues and into the grove within. Among the rubble they could see several objects that most definitely did not belong. A vase of solid gold was perched precariously on a broken rock. A gauntlet of gold and bluish steel was wedged between the rocks not far off, large green magic crystals were embedded in the knuckles of the glove, and it was shaped for a dragon. Lastly, there were two other odd objects: a strange, egg shaped stone ball, engraved with sigils, and a giant silver key.

Igneous picked up the gauntlet uncertainly, and examined it for a moment before slipping it on. He flexed his talons, experimentally. The blades on the ends of each toe were longer than normal claws, but the gloved moved to his direction with ease.

"Wow Tirren." Igneous grinned, flashing his fangs in the light of the torch he had just dropped. "You were right about searching over here. Maybe you should pick the next spot as well."

Tirren shrugged and fished out a few spare sacks, she tossed one to Igneous. He caught it in his ungloved paw.

"Put this stuff in the bags, I will look around to see if I can find any more." Tirren turned away, and padded around the rubble strewn area, looking for any stray treasures. Behind her, Igneous started putting the loot into the sack, placing each piece delicately into the bag. He still wore the glove though.

A dull gleam of white caught Tirren's eye and she moved to investigate. A pile of bones lay beside a heap of rubble. A mouldy Ape skull grinned up at her evilly. She looked around, everywhere she looked she could see stacks of bones, all stacked neatly in piles. A chill ran down her spine. Something was wrong, the heaps of bones were too neat, when a creature died, they normally sprawled on the ground, and the skeletons should resemble that. But these were piled in stacks, weapons lying not far away.

"Igneous." Tirren whispered, just loud enough for the red to hear.

"Yeah Rin?" He asked, fumbling with the straps on the paw glove to take it off.

"There is something wrong about this place..."

"What do you mean Rin? I don't see anythi..."

A feral howl tore through the shadows of the room, followed by a high pitched chittering. Igneous and Tirren jumped in surprise, and whirled to face the sound. There was nothing there.

"What was that!" Igneous cried lowering himself into a battle stance, the gauntlet still strapped to his right paw. Another chittering echoed from the other side of the room, causing the two young dragons to move back to back, and gaze out into the darkness. All around them flickers of movement could be seen, grabbing at their attention, only to disappear into the shadows.

Then, one moved into the light of the fallen torch. It was small, almost bent double. A crude stone axe was clutched in one skeletal hand. Its entire body was bone, no flesh covering it. Small scraps of cloth hung from it in tatters, clinging to the bones like skin. Its hollow skull glared out at the two dragons, and it chittered a high pitched whistle through its gaping mouth. Dozens more of the creatures appeared around the dragons, the heaps of bone pulling themselves up, joints popping back into place.

"Tirren, what are these things?" Igneous asked, an edge of worry working its way into his voice.

"Apes." The emerald dragoness answered in a whisper. Igneous looked at her, puzzled.

"Aren't Apes supposed to have skin?"

"These are the remnants of Gaul's army." Tirren murmured, as the Apes gathered around the two in a semicircle. "When Malefor returned to life, he cursed the Apes who served under Gaul with unlife. This must have been an Ape war party when Malefor cursed them."

"Then what about the other Apes that still have flesh and blood? Why aren't they cursed?"

Tirren flashed Igneous an exasperated look. "Not all Apes served Gaul. There were many tribes that didn't join his crusade. They weren't affected by..."

The Apes didn't give Tirren a chance to finish; they let out ear-splitting howls and charged, racing on all fours, weapons slung across their backs. Igneous spat a ball of liquid fire at one cluster of skeletal figures. The blue white sphere of flame detonated on the group, and the Apes howled as the molten fire washed over them, melting their bones and boiling their marrow.

Tirren unleashed a burst of magic into the ground, and the floor beneath the Apes in the middle of the semicircle exploded upwards in a wave of spikes. The skeletons shattered as the spikes sundered their limbs. With much of the floor blocked off by the stone spikes that stuck up out of the floor, Tirren could focus on helping Igneous.

The red dragon was blazing Apes left and right, his fire was a brilliant white-blue in colour as he incinerated all of the Apes in his wake. A blow from one of the beasts caught Tirren from the side, its blunt sword skittered across her patched plates and over her scales. The blow left no cut, but the impact jarred her. She whirled, snarling and struck it with her tail. It splintered like dry wood from the power infused strike, much to Tirren's satisfaction.

The Apes fought their way through Igneous's flames and pounced on the drake. Puddles of melted bone pooled around the area as he fought. He struck with his taloned paws and his spiked tail, tearing bones from the small creatures with each strike. An axe struck sparks from Igneous's mail, and he gritted his fangs in pain from the impact. He raised his gloved paw, anger flashing through him as he prepared to strike the axe bearing skeleton. The glove suddenly burst into flame as he struck, the burning talons seared through the bones and shattered the creature's joints.

The Ape howled as it fell apart, bursting into bright flames. Igneous stared at the gauntlet in astonishment, the flames burning around it flickering and dying moments later. A shout from Tirren brought him back to reality just in time to avoid a mace blow aimed at his head. He raised his paw again, and sent a surge of magical energy through his body. The glove burst into flames and annihilated the baboon corpse he struck. Igneous smirked and he sent surge after surge of magic into the glove, and struck every Ape that came into reach with his new weapon.

The red unleashed another blaze of fire out of his mouth, and shrieking, the creatures fled. Igneous and Tirren sat down panting, relieved that the fighting had finally ceased. Molten puddles of Ape marrow and splinters of white bone lay everywhere. The field of stone spikes Tirren had created had upturned one of the small statues, which now lay broken on its side.

Tirren eyed the glove Igneous were speculatively. "Can I see that?" She asked after a moment. Igneous examined the gauntlet for a second, and then removed it and tossed it to her. Tirren caught it with a grunt, and slipped it on. She padded over to a nearby boulder, and raised her paw. She sent a burst of magical power through her body and into the glove as she struck the stone. Her paw glowed a deep green and the boulder exploded in a shower of pebbles and debris.

"I see." Tirren murmured, examining the gauntlet closely. "It channels the wearer's magic, and amplifies it, turning it into a powerful physical blow... Incredible."

A chorus of chittering from the darkness caused the two to start in alarm. They looked at each other nervously, and another high pitched chittering sounded around them.

"Let's go."

* * *

Savron surveyed the carnage around him with tired eyes, panting. The Ape attack had been sudden and fierce, with many of the skeletons attacking the three all at once. After the initial shock of seeing the piles of bones come to life, the trio quickly dispatched the undead creatures. The cramped confines of the room had worked in the dragon's favour as they blasted the creatures with magic, tearing the creatures apart.

Broken bones lay everywhere they looked, scattered like fallen leaves. Zindy pranced around the room, shattering any intact Ape skulls she could find with a swing of her tail, and a small 'hiah!' Typhous sat in one corner of the room, panting. None of them were injured, but they were tired from exerting as much energy as they had.

"Sav?" Typhous moaned, getting to his paws unsteadily. "Can we go now? I'm starting to think that this wasn't the best idea."

Savron looked to his wind dragon friend concerned.

"But we've gone so far already! We can't go back empty pawed! We should at least bring back something worthwhile."

Typhous sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to change Savron's mind on this, and moved off to search around the room. Zindy and Savron followed suit, separating to cover a larger area. They moved quickly, tense with nervousness, all worried another wave of Ape skeletons would come out of the shadows.

As Savron searched, he thought back to Igneous and Tirren, who had set off to other parts of the catacombs. _"I hope they're okay. If there were Apes here, they must have encountered some or will be soon. If we don't meet up with them back at the statue, then we..."_

"Ifoundsomething! Ifoundsomething!"

Upon hearing this, Savron and Typhous pelted across the room over to the young dragoness who was jumping up and down excitedly. They crowded around her to see what she was so excited about. Hidden in a crack in the wall, a small switch could just be seen. The wall had given away and the stone covering had broken off, to reveal the secret behind it.

Zindy reached into the crack, her tongue poking out of the side of her muzzle as she did so. Savron and Typhous gave startled shouts of warning, but were too late. With a jerk Zindy pulled the lever and yanked her paw out hastily. With a grinding of rusty gears the wall next to the switch swung open, revealing a flight of stairs leading down into the darkness.

Savron and Typhous sighed, relieved that the switch was not trapped, and then followed Zindy, who had raced down the stairs without a second's hesitation. The stairs were steep and slippery with moss, and there were many times where they nearly slipped and fell, but they made it down to the bottom without falling. The stairs led into a small corridor, which in turn, led to a small room.

Dust lay over everything in a thick mat. Several tables and shelves lined the walls, leaving the room fairly cramped. On one side of the room, a small cluster of blue spirit crystals grew out of the stone floor. The tables were covered with scrawled notes, vials and ancient equipment. The shelves were lined with old tomes, written in an archaic language.

"Hey Typhous." Savron grinned. "I think we just found our 'something worthwhile.'"

The grey sighed shaking his head, but said nothing.

Taking out their sacks, the three moved around the room, collecting the loot. The room was lit by the soft glow of the spirit gems and the harsh brilliance of the torches as they carefully gathered their treasure. Typhous was careful to take only the intact tomes. Many of the books looked like they would never survive a trip back up to the Temple in a sack. Zindy packed away some of the equipment that lay on the tables, while Savron padded around the room, looking for any stray treasures.

Savron approached the spirit crystals and examined them. They were even rarer than life crystals. The blue gems were used to permanently boost the power of a dragon's element. These invaluable gems had been rapidly used up by dragons wishing to get a quick and easy boost to their magical abilities, and had soon become so rare and valuable that the kings had to declare selling spirit gems an illegal trade to keep them from being used up entirely. Savron knew that the find here was worth a small village in gold. Even the Temple had only a few clusters of these gems in their gardens.

_"I should bring these up to the Guardians, they could use a fresh supply of crystals... but maybe we should keep some for ourselves. We did discover them after all, and we deserve a little reward for bringing all of this back up to the Guardians."_

The young purple stepped up to the cluster and shattered it with two strong blows from his paws. The cluster broke like glass, falling to the ground in a shower of crystal shards. The purple dragon scooped the gems up and stuffed them into his sack. He turned back to speak to his friends, when an odd sight caught his eye. Hidden just behind a stack of books, a glass case could be seen. The light of the torches gleaming off of its glassy surface.

Savron approached it cautiously, moving the tomes aside to see what was within. A thick, grey leather book lay inside the glass case. Arcane symbols were etched into its surface with gold leaf. Now eager with anticipation, Savron leaned over and tried to open the case. It was locked. Savron snarled and raised his paw to break the glass, and then thought better of it. He examined the lock that held the case shut. It was a thick iron padlock, and oddly enough, with no keyhole. It was looped through several latches on the case, holding it firmly shut.

Savron took a slow, deep breath, and then, focusing his power tightly, blew an intense tongue of white flame onto the lock's ring. It quickly heated up to a glowing orange-red. Then, switching elements, Savron blew icy liquid on the heated metal, rapidly cooling it to a frosty cold. Finally, with a quick jerk and a surge of earth magic, he broke the now brittle metal lock away. Savron grinned triumphantly, and opened the case.

He removed the book with difficulty, as it was far heavier than it looked, and placed it on a desk with a thump. There, he carefully opened it. To his surprise, he found that the pages were actually thin, flexible sheets of metal, with the letters and pictures engraved into them and coloured in with ink. Savron looked over the page trying to decipher the script, but the elegant sigils were unfamiliar to him. Then, one word in particular caught his eye, it was written in an archaic form of dragonic, which Savron had happened to study a few years back. It was written on the back of the leather cover, in gold leaf. He leaned closer to examine it.

"Property of... In...Can... Incandi... Incandious? Is that a name?" The purple shrugged at his own question and flipped through the foil pages.

After a few minutes of examining strange and confusing images and formulas, he came across a page that caught his interest. It was a picture of a huge, bipedal creature formed out of rock and lava. It stood beside a mountain, which it was nearly as large as. Two massive horns curled down from its head, and under its jaw. And what appeared to be a city was perched on top of its shoulders. Something about the image was familiar to Savron, and he paused trying to remember from where.

A sudden shout from the room above pulled Savron from his thoughts.

"Sav! Ty! Zindy! Where are you! Are you alright!" Igneous bellowed from the room where Savron and his group had encountered the Apes. Savron shut the book and shoved it into his sack, all thoughts of the picture gone he raced over to the staircase and called up to his friends.

"Igneous, we're down here! We're okay! What's the matter?"

"Sav! There are Apes everywhere! I think we've lost them for now, but we have to get out of here!" The red dragon called, panicked.

Immediately all of Savron's humorous demeanour was gone, replaced entirely by a serious set to his features. He turned to his two friends, who had stopped to listen in on the conversation and started issuing orders.

"Okay guys listen up. We have what we came for and it seems a large group of Apes are on their way here. You two go up and lead the way with Igneous; I will take up the rear and make sure no one sneaks up on us. GO!"

They nodded and rushed up the stairs; Savron hoisted his sack and tied it onto his back, and then followed quickly. They met up with their friends, took formation, and hastily made their escape out of the Temple ruins.

* * *

Sleet evaded the Ape dummy's clumsy swing with an awkward duck and then hastily side stepped another swing from the one to his left. Lyrith watched, impressed. In the two days the Albino had been coaching Sleet, the young ice dragon had improved substantially at dodging. The scrawny drake, who had once hardly been able to evade a brick wall, had started to learn the basics of dodging.

Lyrith had given Sleet pointers here and there, occasionally even stepping into the ring to explain a concept and demonstrate to his pupil. However, he mostly just let the young drake learn on his own. Because as Lyrith knew all too well, experience taught faster than lectures.

The hourglass ran out and Lyrith pulled the switch. The three dummies fell to the ground in a heap, and Sleet sat down on his haunches, panting.

Lyrith nodded in approval to the young dragon, and then stood up and stretched.

"I think it is time to move on to using magic now."

Sleet perked up in surprise at the announcement and looked at Lyrith incredulously.

"What! But I've barely improved at dodging! I'm still getting hit a lot! Why move on now?"

Lyrith raised an eye ridge at the frustration in Sleet's voice, and then he smiled.

"Come over here." The Albino ordered, flipping to the front of his note pad. Sleet came over dubiously and Lyr showed him the notepad.

"At the top is the number of times you were hit on the first exercise yesterday."

Sleet's shoulders slumped at the three dozen tick marks ladled on the pad. Lyrith flipped back to the page he had been on and showed him the count.

"And this right here is the number of times you've been hit on this exercise."

Sleet stared in astonishment; the number was just over twenty.

"You've been improving steadily as the lessons have progressed. In just two days' time you've dropped your hit count by a full third. That is an impressive feat, and you did it pretty much all by yourself, with little help from me. Do you still think you're not ready to move on?"

Lyr didn't wait for a response and, putting the pad down, moved over to the machine.

"This program will be essentially the same. Five minutes in the ring, but with four dummies and the use of magic permitted. The dummies will get back up if they fall, so no short cuts."

"Uh, Lyr?" Sleet murmured once the Albino was finished fiddling with the controls. "I'm not that good at controlling my power, so..."

"You'll be fine." Lyrith grunted, patting the small drake on the shoulder. "They are only dummies after all."

"But, how are you going to help me keep control? You don't have magic, you're an..." Sleet stuttered to a halt, and Lyrith glared down at him.

"I'm a what?" Lyrith asked cooly after a second's pause. Sleet swallowed hard.

"I... I didn't mean..." Sleet stammered, trying to think of something to say to placate the white. He didn't have to. After a few moments of glaring down at Sleet, Lyrith let out a long sigh, and turned away.

"I'm an Albino. No, I won't teach you control. I'm your trainer, not your teacher. I'll help you teach yourself. It is up to you to learn control, and how to fight. I'm just here to make sure nothing goes wrong, and give you some advice. The rest is up to you. Now if you want to pass, get back in the ring and beat up some straw dummies." Lyrith finished with mock severity, and Sleet obeyed, feeling relieved he hadn't offended Lyrith too badly.

Once he was in the ring, Lyrith fiddled with the machine for a second, making sure the settings were right, and then pulled the lever.

This time four dummies came to life, pulling their straw and wooden bodies together into club wielding creatures. They struck out at Sleet within seconds of reforming, and Sleet evaded their blows with a quick shuffle backwards. They swung at him with a flurry of clumsy, slow moving strikes, the added dummy sent Sleet on edge as the battle progressed. The young drake dodging as many blows as he could, ducking and sidestepping when he could, and throwing himself to the side when he couldn't. It was only when a particularly solid blow to his head knocking him back that he remembered he was allowed to use magic again.

Sleet rolled, moved to get up on his paws, stumbled a bit, and then blasted an ice spike at the nearest dummy. The spike tore a head sized hole in the mannequin's chest, and it tumbled to the ground. A club came whistling towards Sleet, which he narrowly ducked, and then blasted a wave of ice at the dummy's legs. Its whole lower body was frozen to the floor, along with a portion of the dummy nearby. The mannequin he had impaled got back up, straw stuffing the hole in its torso once more.

As Sleet fought, the temperature in the room quickly dropped until Lyr's breath came out in clouds of steam. He shivered, wishing he had brought a warm covering, and then dismissed the thought. He glanced up at the hourglass clock on the wall, and started at the time. It was almost past supper. The white glanced around, caught sight of a nearby servant, and beckoned her over. He whispered some instructions into the canine's ear, and the Husky nodded in understanding. She then rushed off, out of the chilly training room. Lyr returned his attention to the battle.

Sleet had sustained multiple hits and was having some trouble focusing his magic into cohesive strikes, but he was doing relatively well considering. His magic was destroying dummy after dummy, and he seemed to have no end of magical reserves.

Finally the hourglass ran out of sand, and Lyrith pulled the switch to turn the machine off. Gratefully Sleet sat down to rest. A few minutes later, the servant returned with two platters of food, which she placed before the two dragons. Sleet looked at Lyrith in surprise, and the white took the smaller of the two plates, and slid the larger one to him.

"It's supper." Lyrith explained, picking up a fried chicken leg. "I thought you might be hungry."

Sleet nodded, drooling at the steaming hot meal before him. He eagerly dived in, savouring the delicious meats and sauces. The ice dragon scarfed down his food, gorging himself on it. Lyrith however, ate far more slowly, striping every piece of meat from the bones.

As they ate, Sleet let his mind wander. Ever since Torch's proposal, he had been thinking about his words. He didn't want to learn from the bullies, he hated them. Not to mention his real friends would never look at him the same way again. But the doubt that Lyrith couldn't teach him had been burned into his mind, and no amount of training had dispelled it.

"_How can he teach me to fight if he can't even teach me the basics of magic?"_ Sleet thought to himself, munching on a steak.

"_Look at what I've accomplished so far!"_ Sleet argued back, defending the white. _"I've improved so much already in just two days! I'll be fine!"_

"_How long has he been here? Hardly three weeks! What can he teach you that someone hasn't already tried?"_

"_He isn't teaching me, he's training me! And it's working better than anything else I've tried!"_

"_But training isn't just what I need! I need tutoring as well. Not just constant training." _

Sleet sighed, as he finished his meal. He looked up at Lyrith, who was watching him, concerned puzzlement on his features.

"I suppose I should get back in the ring." Sleet murmured, getting to his paws and leaving his plate on the ground. Lyrith shook his head.

"Nope. Training is over for today."

"What! Really? Why?"

"Because it's getting late, and I was wondering if you would like to study with me. Can't have you pass combat only to fail the other classes because you didn't study."

Sleet was taken aback. He had not expected this request out of the scarred Albino. Lyr got up and started packing his notes away. He then turned his red gaze to Sleet questioningly.

"So, how about it?"

After a moment's pause Sleet nodded in ascent. He had been neglecting his studies in favour of his training, and a group study was better than studying alone. At his nod, Lyr smiled, his appearance turning less bleak and frightening than usual.

"Alright, let's bring our dishes back to the kitchen, and then we can go up to the library. Okay?"

"Okay." Sleet confirmed, picking up his now empty plate. Together, the two carried the platters out of the still cold room, and out into the hallway. They wandered the passageways, dodging large crowds that would have jostled the dishes from their paws.

...

Aiel stood on his hind paws, scrubbing a greasy dish with a soggy rag over a tub of dish water. A massive pile of pots, dishes and bowls were stacked to one side of the tub. Beside him, Voltlyn also worked at a dish, her forepaws lathered in hot water and dish soap.

From time to time, Aiel would glance over at Voltlyn, as if checking to make sure she really was there. He had never before encountered a student who would willingly lower themselves to servant work for any reason. Especially a student who belonged to Torch's gang. Yet, ever since he had received his punishment for destroying the training ground, Voltlyn had been there to help him with his dish duty.

"You don't have to help you know." Aiel murmured to the topaz dragoness as they worked. "I am sure you have more important things to do."

Voltlyn shook her head, a shy smile creeping over her features.

"No, it's alright." She whispered just loud enough to be heard, putting the dish on the clean pile and taking up another dirty one. "I did dishes all the time at home."

"But this is my punishment." Aiel continued, also putting his dish on the pile, and taking up a particularly filthy one. He really didn't want her to go, but he still didn't want her to burden herself with his problem. "This is what I get for what happened at the training ground. You shouldn't have to worry about me, and my issues."

"It's wasn't your fault." Voltlyn murmured, scrubbing the dish with her rag. "You didn't deserve this. They should have never punished you for something that Wi... That was an accident."

Aiel smiled back, at the dragoness.

"_She's so nice."_ He thought as he continued scrubbing_. "I just wonder why she hangs around Torch and his goons."_

Suddenly Voltlyn froze, the dish she had held in her paws falling into the tub with a splash. Aiel glanced over to her, and then saw her staring at the kitchen door. Lyrith padded in with Sleet, each carrying a plate in their paws.

Voltlyn's face burned bright red and her eyes darted around anxiously as Lyrith approached them.

"Hey Aiel." Lyr greeted the other Albino as he stepped towards them.

"Oh! Hey Lyr! How's the training been?"

"Good. How's the dishwashing?"

"About as good as it can get, I suppose. Voltlyn here has been really helpful. She's been helping me with the dishes since the day of my punishment." The silver horned white dragon gestured to the topaz lightning, who had turned hastily back to the dishes, and was now frantically scrubbing, hoping Lyrith wouldn't pay her any mind.

Lyrith turned to face her, an eye ridge raised. "Really? That is very kind of her. Thank you. But isn't there a red dragon prince waiting for you in Lily Pad Grove?"

Voltlyn stopped scrubbing and looked to Lyr in horror. Sleet and Aiel looked between the two in puzzlement.

"You... you saw..." She whispered, fear edging into her voice. Lyr moved up beside her, putting the dishes down. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear frill.

"If you need help, or just someone to talk to, I'm always willing to help out." He then moved away, leaving her staring after him as he walked away. Sleet hurriedly put the dishes down and rushed after Lyr, who had vanished out the kitchen door. Voltlyn stood on her hind paws, shivering in shock. Aiel looked between her, and the door Lyr had just gone through, puzzled. Then he whispered, unsure what he had just witnessed.

"What was-"

"-that all about?" Sleet called, unknowingly echoing Aiel's question. He rushed after Lyr, trying to catch up to the white, who was stomping angrily down the hall.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Lyrith grunted, as they moved through the twisting halls, through crowds and towards the library. Sleet shook his head in exasperation and he was about to try again, when he saw the hard glint to Lyrith's eyes and thought better of it.

The library was packed; nearly every seat available on the first floor had been taken. All of the students were studying hard for the upcoming exams. The chatter in the library was subdued to a low murmur as classmates discussed topics, trying to memorise them.

Lyrith and Sleet slipped through the throng of students, keeping an eye out for an open table. They spotted one in a secluded corner of the library, and headed towards it. It was far enough out of the way that the chatter would not be bothersome, but it was a bit too far from the books they needed.

"I will go get the books." Lyr grunted, setting his satchel down on the table. "What do you need?"

"Myths of Dragon Lore, Magical Formulas and The Common Bestiary." Sleet chimed instantly, and then blushed slightly at Lyr's amused expression.

"I'll be right back; you stay here and keep our table." Lyr gave Sleet no time to protest before he set off, back into the din of the library, moving out of sight in the shelves. Lyr padded over to the nearest librarian, and listed off the three books he needed. The earth dragon librarian gave him direction to the books locations and the white set off. He wandered through the shelves, keeping an eye out for any interesting books along the way.

After a few minutes of searching, he acquired the two books Sleet had requested, and started back to his table. He turned a corner and suddenly found himself face to face with Torch. The red dragon prince sneered at the Albino as he leaned against a nearby bookshelf.

"Hey, Whitey. What are you doing here? Reading? Didn't know you knew how."

Lyrith snarled at the red. Around Torch, Droth and Granite stood, their mocking chuckles matching their leers.

"What do you want, Candlestick?" Lyrith jeered, his frustration welling up inside him. He really didn't want to deal with Torch's crap at the moment, not that he ever wanted to. And the mere sight of him after witnessing the event last night was enough to make his blood boil.

"I just wanted to talk you that you won't need to teach Sleet anymore." Torch chuckled moving away from the shelf to face the Albino.

"What?" Lyrith snarled, confused at the fire drakes words.

"Sleet and I had a little talk today. I asked him if he would like to train with us."

"So? That doesn't mean he is going to train with you." Lyrith snorted, looking around the bullies, trying to find a way around them.

"He didn't refuse our offer. And judging by the look on your face, he hasn't told you anything about this, has he? That in itself surely tells you that he is at least considering my offer."

For a moment, Lyrith was lost for words, much to Torch's amusement. He couldn't deny the accusation, as what Torch had just said was entirely possible. However, it could just be a ploy to make him break ties with Sleet, which would greatly damage his relations with Savron's group. Finally he regained his words.

"But," Lyr smirked, pulling his confidence back, "He came to train with me today, not you. Even if he does have his doubts, he still favours the teachings of an Albino to yours."

Torch started back in shock at the biting words, anger filling his gaze. Lyrith turned to find another way back to Sleet, but Torch's snarl stopped him.

"Even he knows that if he continues to train under a **lizard** he will fail. It is only a matter of time before he turns to a **real** dragon for help. Maybe when your so called friends abandon you it will teach you some humility, Milky."

Torch stalked out of the alley of shelves and out of sight. The two earth dragon twins followed after him. Lyr snorted and moved in the opposite direction, taking the long way back to Sleet. He arrived at his table, and dropped the books down in front of him with a loud thump. The scrawny ice dragon, who had been taking a short nap, woke with a sharp yelp, drawing angry glared from a few nearby students.

"I just had a little chat with Torch." Lyr grunted, sitting down opposite of Sleet. "And he told me that you two had a discussion about training earlier. Is it true?"

Sleet gulped at Lyr's stony red eyes.

"Well, um... uh..."

"I take that as a yes, then?" Lyrith replied, a small fit of anger clenching his jaw. "If you don't want to train with me, then don't. Just tell me first so I don't waste my time showing up for a pointless session."

"That's... I didn't..." Sleet stuttered, Lyr gazed at him solemnly, and Sleet took a long, shuddering breath to steady himself.

"I don't want to... Idon'twanttotrainwith**them**, okay!" He blurted finally, so quickly that he could barely be understood. For a moment, Lyr was confused as to what he had said, and then it sunk in.

"You don't want to... train with them?" The white repeated slowly, and Sleet nodded in agreement.

"They're mean, vile bullies and I wouldn't want to learn from them even if it meant I fail. It's just that..." He faltered, and glanced up at Lyr. The white's gaze had softened somewhat, and he gestured for Sleet to continue.

"It's just that I wasn't sure if you **could** teach me." He explained, and then hurried on to elaborate. "I have had dozens of tutors try to teach me control and combat, and with little success. And you don't have magic, so how could you teach me what you don't know yourself?"

"I see." Lyr sighed, looking away.

"But then you showed me my progress." Sleet stated, looking away as well. "And for the first time I saw some actual results in a training program."

Lyrith looked back to Sleet, his sad tones fading away as he realised what Sleet was going to say.

"So I was thinking that you **are** my best chance to pass." Sleet finished. He glanced back up to Lyr, who felt a small smile tug at the corners of his muzzle.

"So, will you still train me?" Sleet asked finally, eyes pleading. The grin that had been trying to escape onto Lyr's face played across his features, but was so small that it was easily hidden.

"Maybe." He answered cryptically. Sleet stared at him aghast.

"W...what?" He stammered, shocked.

"If you help me pull a prank on Torch tomorrow I will continue to teach you." Lyrith said after savouring the shock on Sleet's face. It was then that the young ice dragon saw the hidden smile, and the gleam of amusement in the Albino's eyes, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the realisation that he had been played.

"It would be my pleasure." Sleet snickered, and them more calmly. "Thank you."

"No problem." Lyr smirked. He picked up one of the text books and opened it, scanning through the pages to find a good place to start studying.

"So, now that that interesting conversation is over, how does studying the history of the belly-dancing frog-weed ritual sound?"

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's Gang: (Savron, Lyrith, Igneous, Zindy, Sleet, Typhous, Tirren.)

Torch's Gang: (Torch, Wintra, Voltlyn, Granite, Droth.)

Aiel.

That was a nice, long, 27 page chapter. It took a while, but now it's done, and I like it a lot. ^^ It frustrated me at times, as I struggled to wade through all of the content of this chapter, but it was worth it in the end. And don't any of you say otherwise. *looks around angrily*

I really enjoyed the exploration part, with all the excitement, adventure and the banter. Well at least it turned out better than his last adventure, right? And what is that book? Why does it have a picture of the Destroyer in it? And who is this Incandious? You will find out… Eventually. :P

Anyway, now I'll be doing the second chapter on Flames of Courage, Embers of Hope. The next chapter is fun, but short (but not too short). So you can all wait patiently, it shouldn't take too long. Who knows, it might even turn out longer than I anticipate. Plus, you will get to see my interpretation on Ember. I hope you like it. ;)


	16. Plans

Chapter 16. Plans

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do not own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple, or any other character or place that belongs to the Spyro franchise. Several of my chara... No I am not going to do a disclaimer joke this time around, stop bugging me Zindy! Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below._

_Zindy: Fine! Ifyouwontdoandisclaimerjoke, I'lltellthemabout thetimeyou accidentallyusedataserasa..._

_Dardarax: *Clamps Zindy's mouth shut* Shut up! You promised you would never tell anyone about that! *Clears throat* Sorry about that. I don't know how she got in here. Now please, enjoy the chapter._

"Where in the name of the ancestors did you find these!" Cyril exclaimed, examining the relics Savron had placed before them. The purple dragon stood with Igneous, Tirren, Typhous and Zindy in the council chamber. The Guardians all gaped at the treasures they had once thought lost.

Late afternoon light streamed through the stained glass windows and over the giant circular stone table. Several sacks lay empty on the floor, and the many books and relics they had collected were stacked on the table.

"The old Temple catacombs." Savron replied flippantly, examining his fore claws and smiling smugly.

"Wait? Thecatacombs! Ithoughtthemlost!" Volteer cried excitedly. "If the number of artifacts you have recovered is anything to show by, then many more such relics must still exist! This discovery is remarkable! Stupendous! Ama..."

"You're right, Volteer." Terrador grumbled, looking over the relics. "It is a very important discovery. Which raises the question as to why you students did not inform us of it instead of going yourself?" The Earth Guardian directed a glare at the five young dragons, all of whom wilted beneath his gaze. Save Savron, who stood proudly, a smug smirk etched across his muzzle.

"Would you have honestly believed us if we came and claimed that there was a trove of relics hidden right under your noses without proof?" The purple asked, raising an eye ridge in amusement.

Terrador looked aback. "Well, no. Not normally but..."

"Precisely!" Savron interrupted, rolling his emerald green eyes. "You would have believed we were trying to get attention or something. So we went down, got some proof, and came straight to you. Now you not only have several relics intact in front of you, with no effort on your part, but you also know there are likely many more where they came from. Why are you so uptight?"

Cyril stepped up, and cleared his throat. "It's just that you could have damaged some relics while you were down there." Cyril explained, looking right into Savron's eyes as he spoke.

"It isn't exactly very tidy down there as it is." Savron grumbled. "There's rubbled everywhere and I'm sure the Apes down there have broken more than their fair share of..."

"APES!" Cynder growled, starting to her paws. "Did you say Apes were down there!"

"Um...Yes?" Savron stammered, suddenly realizing mentioning that might not have been the best idea.

"Not only did you go down into an old, unstable underground ruin, you also fought with Apes!" Cynder snarled, stalking towards Savron, anger filling her eyes. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't ground you on the spot?"

"It's not like we didn't prepare for a fight!" Savron countered, pointing to the armour he wore. "We brought supplies for every eventuality. Chalk, ropes, food. I even bought crystals with my own coin!"

"You knowingly put yourself in danger against foes that could have killed you! And you didn't even tell us you would be gone! What if you got trapped inside and..."

"Mom, what have you been teaching me to do for five years now? Oh, I know: How to fight! I can defend myself as well as any other trained dragon, better than most. And as for not telling you, I left a note on my desk telling you where I have gone. You didn't read it did you?"

Cynder was left speechless by his argument. She hadn't seen the note, and if what he said was true, he had planned everything out, which was more than he had done for any of his other adventures before. She had expected half-baked responses, a few lame excuses, not the unquestionable logic he had just given her.

Cynder sighed, defeated. "Fine. But next time you plan something so foolish, at least tell me first."

Savron smiled victoriously. "Alright. Deal." He then looked at his father quizzically, asking if he was allowed to leave. Spyro nodded his expression a half frown, half smile. Savron motioned to his friends, and they turned and left, trotting out of the room, chatting to each other cheerfully.

Spyro moved up beside Cynder, who stood, watching her son leave with a somber expression.

"Are you alright?" The purple whispered to his mate, draping a wing over her.

"He's grown up so fast, hasn't he?" The black dragoness murmured, resting her head on Spyro's shoulder. "I can still remember the day he first attended his lessons."

"Yeah," Spyro agreed, nuzzling Cynder lightly. "He's almost an adult now. Time flies, huh."

"Sometimes I wonder," Cynder continued her expression saddening. "What it would have been like if... if our first..." Cynder couldn't finish, tears beading in her eyes. Spyro held her close, whispering soothing words to her, all the while trying to beat back his own tears. The Guardians watched the pair with heavy hearts.

"A tragedy that should never have occurred." Volteer murmured consolingly, moving up to the two to place a paw on the distraught pair's shoulders.

"So many eggs lost." Cyril whispered, turning his head away.

"Not just once, but twice we have failed our sacred duty as Guardians." Terrador muttered, closing his eyes shut tight. Inferna looked at her grieving friends with anguish, suppressing the urge to cry at the terrible memories.

After a moment of grieving, she took a deep breath, and broke the gloom that had filled the chamber.

"That day has scarred us all, but let's not dwell too deeply on the past. Instead, let us look to the future. At this moment, we have a great discovery to celebrate, and much studying ahead of us. So let's take our mind away from grief, and to what we can accomplish now."

Spyro and Cynder broke away from their embrace and wiped the budding tears from their eyes. They, along with Volteer, moved back to the table, and Cyril nodded to the Guardian of Flame in thanks.

"Thank you Inferna, for that moving speech. You are right of course, let us get our minds back on the present, and not on what we cannot change."

The Guardians all sat at the table, pushing away the terrible memories, and started deciding what was to be done with the new relics they had so miraculously obtained.

* * *

The sunshine shone brightly through Lyrith's windows and across the room. The room, which had been so barren, was now full of personal items. Numerous books lined his bookshelf, several thick mattresses were placed in a ring by the window for friends to sit at. Stacks of paper were piled on the desk and a set of personal training equipment was stored on a rack in an empty corner of the room. Several new sunglobes were placed in key points around the room, to light up the chamber when it was dark. All of this had been paid with the money Lyrith had earned from Deran at his job at the forge.

The Temple forge master paid Lyrith more than twice what he had earned at his previous job at the Warfang smelters, for little more than a third of the work. The white had more gold and gems than he had ever before possessed. Not nearly as much as he had seen Savron, Igneous, or any of his other friends spend on a whim, but more than he had ever dreamed he would have at his disposal. He had spent most of it on the furnishings that now filled his room. But the rest he had started saving up in a large chest he had purchased, and was now tucked in one corner of his room, locked tight.

Lyrith stretched and yawned as the rays of sunlight fell over him through the curtained window. He blinked several times to get the glare out of his vision, and then rolled over. He had slept in longer than he normally would have, and was grateful that the teachers had given the last week of classes off before exams so the students could study.

The Albino slowly climbed to his paws, yawned again, and then padded over to the other side of his room. He stretched out the last of the stiffness out of his limbs as he made his way across the room. Lyr paused by his desk and picked up his satchel. A quick series of knocks sounded at his door, and Lyrith glanced quickly over to it, a small smile spreading across his face. He paced over to the door, and opened it.

Sleet stood anxiously behind it, paw starting to raise for another knock. He quickly lowered his paw.

"Oh, you're awake." Sleet grinned sheepishly, and Lyrith raised an eye ridge.

"Yes. Yes I am." The white grunted in amusement.

"Well, uh... I was wondering if we could get an early start on training. This afternoon Savron's taking us on a trip to town, and I don't want to miss it."

"Sounds like a good plan." Lyrith nodded in agreement. "I don't have much to do today, so after breakfast let's go down to the training ring."

"Okay." Sleet replied, turning to the student kitchen.

They found Savron and the gang sitting at the table, all chattering cheerfully. They greeted the two warmly, as they took their seats, having just collected their meals.

Several tables over, Torch watched them, a fierce scowl plastered across his expression. The fire dragon prince was a shocking lime green in colour, and his horns were decorated with glitter and paint. Drawings of unicorns, rainbows, and far less innocent images were drawn across his body in black ink. All of the nearby students stared at Torch in shock and amusement. A group of dragonesses that was a fair distance away actually had the audacity to giggle and point at the bulky prince.

One of the members of his gang, who sat at the table near Torch, opened his muzzle to ask him what happened. Torch turned his baleful glare on him, eyes burning.

"Go ahead, ask. Amuse me."

The young lightning dragon who had been about to speak, shut up immediately, recognizing the warning signs and backing down. Torch sneered in a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment. He really wanted an excuse to beat on somebody right now.

"So Torch, what's our plan?" Thunder asked, suppressing a chuckle at his friend's state, and flicking a bone at another student nearby. He laughed as it bounced off of his head. The other student glowered, but said nothing. Torch turned his gaze towards his lightning dragon friend, his grin widening.

"We make him fail the upcoming exams, that's what." Torch turned to Wintra. "Is everything ready?" He asked the queen of ice. She nodded, smirking.

"Oh yes. We have the notes, books, cheat cards, and even a distraction to top it off. He won't leave those exams with a pass."

"Very good." Torch whispered, his eyes narrowing in amusement.

As Lyrith and his friends finished their meal, Ember approached their table, and placed a jar of jam down beside the Albino.

"Here you go Lyrith; I made it special for you. To celebrate the first month of you studying here. It's strawberry, your favourite."

"Thank." Lyr mumbled through his last mouthful of steak. They all stood, and Lyrith slipped the jar into his satchel.

"Alright, so what next?" Savron asked as they started out of the kitchen.

"Sleet and I have to do some training." Lyrith stated, stalking several paces in front of the purple dragon.

"Alright. Do you mind if we tag along? We could use some extra combat practice ourselves."

"Suit yourself." Lyrith grunted, nodding in ascent. They turned and made their way towards the training room.

Torch watched them go, a half grin, half grimace etched across his face. He turned to his gang members, standing up.

"Let's go make some more preparations. I want this to be done with as few mistakes as possible."

Torch led the way out of the kitchen, the eyes of the students following the 'red' dragon out, silently laughing.

* * *

Lyrith stood in front of the library third floor entrance, examining the lock. It was now late in the evening, and he had long since finished his training with his friends. They had all had a great deal of fun, bashing straw dummies and practicing combat moves. Savron had given Sleet some pointers on better controlling his element, while Lyrith had helped him develop his physical combat.

Sleet had finally advanced enough for Lyrith to feel comfortable teaching Sleet melee fighting skills. The scrawny ice drake had little punch behind his attacks, so the Albino focused instead on teaching Sleet moves to off balance and even disable his opponents.

They had parted ways after a dinner down in the village at the foot of the Temple and Lyrith had made his way to the library, and snuck up to the third floor. Under any other circumstance Lyr would not have been foolish enough to fall to the temptation that the forbidden floor offered. But this was not for selfish reasons. On this floor the personal information on the students was stored, and he needed to see one student's information in particular: Voltlyn's.

"If I'm going to help her, I need to know more about her past." Lyr mused, finally moving forwards the lock, unsheathing his claw.

Lyrith had tried safer ways of getting information on the topaz lightning dragoness. He has asked around, learned as much as he could from the students, and then had approached Inferna when his search yielded little results. The Fire Guardian had outright refused to answer his questions on Voltlyn, saying that if he had so much interest in her, he should ask her himself. Now, he was left with one option: the third floor of the library.

Lyrith poked around the lock with his claw for a moment, and to his surprise found it unlocked. He paused, realizing it wouldn't be unlocked without a purpose, and then slipped inside anyway. He closed the door silently, and looked around.

The bookshelves were surprisingly empty, with only a few tomes on each shelf. There was very little in the way of light in the floor, with only a few small candles to light the way. Lyrith slowly slunk through the shadowy aisles, cautious for any sign of movement. He knew that if he was caught in here, he could very well be expelled, but of once, he felt that the risk may be worth it. If he could understand why Voltlyn would submit to a dragon like Torch, when she clearly had no desire to, then he might be able to help her.

The memory of the scene came back to Lyr, and he ground his fangs in rage. Torch's satisfied smirk, Voltlyn's teary eyes and weak sobs. The residue of their mating, and the cuts and bruises across Voltlyn's beaten frame.

"He used her," Lyrith mentally snarled, "He forced himself on her, and then thinks he can get away with it? I will not let her, or anyone, be used like that again. Not like they did to her."

Another memory, one of a white dragoness lying broken in an alley sent a surge of feral rage and anguish through him. Lyrith gleefully imagined tearing Torch's 'jewels' off, and shoving them down his throat, so he could never poison anybody, with his words or body ever again.

Lyrith stepped around a corner, and a flash of purple scales shattered his malicious thoughts. He backed up into the alley of books and shelves he had come through to avoid being seen. As he did this, he accidentally bumped into one of the shelves, sending a book falling to the floor. Lyr just managed to catch it, and press his back against the shelf to hide himself and waited, tensely, to see what would happen next.

...

Spyro sighed and put his head in his paws. He sat in the third floor of the library by a well-lit desk. Several of the recovered tomes were stacked on the desk. Rolls of parchment were also piled nearby, covered in the purple dragon's script. The library itself was fairly empty, of both inhabitants, and books.

Despite what students believed, there were actually only a small number of books on this floor. It was as large as all of the other floors, but often times whole shelves were dedicated to only one book. But the restriction on this floor was well deserved. Every book, every document was either dangerous or held important or private information that students shouldn't have access to.

The books Spyro had been reading were total tripe. Sure some had interesting views on magic, or facts that had been long lost, but most of it had either been disproved, or was already recorded in newer, more reliable texts.

Spyro sighed again, rubbing his tired eyes. He had been decrypting these tomes for days now, and had found next to nothing useful. All of the others had made great progress with their assigned relics, finding amazing things in their work. Cynder had been bragging to him last night about her relic the 'Marble Egg', and had been talking about how it could store magic in it, and channel it into objects. Which sounded by far more interesting than reading the ramblings of a misinformed sage trying to decipher the legends of the mythic dragons called the 'Monarchs.'

The purple dragon yawned and the tome with a snap. "If I don't find something interesting in the next five minutes, then I'm going to bed." Spyro declared loudly, as if trying to convince someone who wasn't there. He sighed when he realized how foolish the act was, and then picked up the next book.

It was a ridiculously heavy grey leather bound book. It was engraved with gold symbols and the pages appeared to be made of metal foil rather than parchment. It was by far the most interesting looking book he had come across so far.

"But," Spyro murmured as he opened the book with mild interest. "the cover rarely tells what's really inside."

He paid the book hardly any attention as he flipped through the pages, growing increasingly bored as his eyes found only calculations and symbols. And then, his violet eyes came to rest on a familiar image: The Destroyer, in all of it's terrible glory.

Spyro froze in shock at he stared at the lava rock behemoth, a welter of horror and fear at the sight of the monster rising up in his chest. The purple dragon snapped the book shut with a bang. He stared at the book with a mixed feeling of fear and morbid curiosity.

Cautiously he opened the pages and looked back at the image of the Destroyer. A sudden thought came to Spyro as he examined the image of the Destroyer standing beside a mountain, and it shook him to the core.

"Is this... Is this the prophecy Malefor spoke up? Is this the prophecy he attempted to fulfill?"

A sudden rustling sound behind him caused Spyro to jump in fright. He whirled around to face the noise, body tensing.

There was nothing there. Just shelves of books.

Spyro blinked in surprise. He had been sure he had heard something.

"Hello?" He called out softly into the dim light of the library. "Is anyone there?"

Nothing answered, and Spyro shook his head.

"Tired mind playing tricks on me." He whispered to himself, shutting his eyes tightly for a second to clear his vision of the white blotches he had seen by the shelf nearest him. He shook his head, opened his eyes, and turned back to the table. He closed the book and picked it up.

"I have to show this to the others." Spyro murmured to himself, and rushed out of the room, leaving the rest of the tomes behind.

...

Lyrith repressed a sigh of relief as the purple hero left, disappearing into the bookshelves. He let his breathing regulate again. He had been breathing slowly, deeply, keeping himself silent all the while. He slowly put back the book and cautiously moved on.

Lyr began his search, looking for several minutes before finding what he had been searching for. It was a large cabinet made of steel, with multiple drawers. It held all of the information on all of the inhabitants of the Temple, dragon and non-dragon, student and staff.

The Albino opened the drawer labeled 'Students' and started leafing through it.

"Buldin, Miranda, Danrah, Granite, Penelopy... Hm, here's mine." Lyrith pulled out his file, and opened it. Inside he saw a portrait of himself painted on the card, along with a single page of information. He skimmed the page, only vaguely interested in its contents.

"Parents: unknown. Race: Albino. Date of Hatching: ninth of Dawnleaf. Blah, blah, blah." Lyr slid his sheet back into the folder, and continued flipping through the folders. He soon found Voltlyn's file, and pulled it out, and started reading it as thoroughly as possible.

"Mother: Dyama. Race: Lightning dragon. Date of Hatching: twenty first of Goldfell..." Lyr skipped ahead a bit, searching for the most important information. He found it within seconds. "Lived in Warfang for all her life. Her father worked as a trader and was killed during a gang raid. Mother had a period of gambling addiction, which she got over just before her mate died..."

Lyrith pursed his lips in pity. The gambling rigs in Warfang were in the rougher parts of the city, and were run by the larger gangs of the slums. It was more than likely that the gangs Dyama owed money to, were the same ones who killed Voltlyn's father, probably while trying to extract the debt.

"So I'm not the only peasant in the Temple." Lyr thought as he turned the page. "That begs the question though: Why does she hang out with Torch and his gang? He prefers upper class members in his gang."

"Intelligent, good grades, highly skilled at elemental magic, developed her own technique called Voltwire. Ah, here it is: She worked as a servant in the Baroness Charah's house with her mother. She worked as a servant for several years, and was recruited by Inferna along with Torch, whom she served as a personal servant to..."

Lyrith stopped, the pieces starting to fall into place. "So she served as Torch's personal servant for several years. That would explain why she hangs out with him, but not why she would let him use her..."

Lyr sighed, and put the folder back where he had found it. The sudden, telltale clicking noise of claws on stone alerted the white dragon to the presence of another dragon. He closed the cabinet and slunk stealthily into the bookshelves. The chubby figure of Cadence appeared at the desk Spyro had been sitting at, and collected the books, grumbling. He didn't notice the white shadowy form slip through the open exit, and out of sight.

* * *

"Spyro, calm down. You found what exactly?" Cynder sighed, motioning for the breathless purple to sit down and catch his breath. He was disheveled from his long hours working, his purple scales dusty and dull, and his claws still covered in ink.

All of the Guardians, and most of the staff sat in the council hall, the room lit by the moonlight that shone through the stained glass windows. Spyro had placed the tome on the massive circular table and was sitting in front of it, gasping for breath from his long sprint down from the library.

"I think I've... Found something important." Spyro panted, looking around the room.

"So?" Cadence snapped. "There were plenty of important things found when your son raided our holy sanctum. What could be so important that you have to interrupt our studies with you declarations?"

Spyro glared at Cadence and flipped the tome open. "I think I may have found the prophecy Malefor was ranting about when he summoned the Destroyer. I'm not entirely sure yet, as I haven't read it. But there are images of the Destroyer in here."

The room stared at Spyro in amazement, and then they all sat up and crowded around the book for a closer look. The Destroyer stared out at them from the page, its fierce eyes almost seeming to burn in the torchlight.

"Spyro." Cynder whispered, moving up closer to him. "Do you really believe that this could be the prophecy?"

"We've never found another book with the Destroyer in it before, that wasn't a fairy tale." Spyro whispered, resting his tired head on her shoulder. "If it isn't, then I don't know what it could be."

The staff and Guardians started whispering to each other as they looked over the book. A few seemed curious, but most seemed afraid of it, keeping far enough away that they could only just make out the pictures. It was an understandable fear, for if it turned out to be the prophecy that the monster Malefor had followed, they had no wish to read it and learn what had driven the maddrake on his insane quest. Many probably thought that if they read it, they too would be driven insane, which was the same reason Spyro himself had not read it through beforehand.

"These runes are old." Cyril declared, looking up from the book. "I hate to admit it, but even I have difficulty understanding them."

"I think only one of us should read it." Serion declared from the other side of the table, clearly wanting nothing to do with the book. "If it is the prophecy, we don't want all of us tainted by what it says."

The staff looked at each other nervously. None of them wanted to take the risk without knowing what the book really was first. But none of them had any wish to just lock the book away without it being read first. After a tense moment, Volteer snorted and hefted the book off the table, looking around.

"Idon'tknowaboutyou, butIdon'tbelieveinsuch superstitious nonsense. I'll read the book."

The Guardian of Lightning carried the book a fair distance away, and sat down on one of the plush cushioned benches that surrounded the table. He flipped to the front, and started reading, yellow eyes skimming across the pages.

The rest of the staff watched, feeling a bit foolish for falling to their 'superstitious nonsense', and took their seats, waiting in unbearable silence to hear what Volteer had to say.

Volteer was several pages in when Spyro began to notice something amiss. The excitable yellow dragon appeared to be intently reading, but the purple could just faintly make out the sides of his muzzle twitching, but whether into a frown or a smile he couldn't tell.

Finally, after flipping through several more pages, Volteer couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst into peals of laughter, letting the book slip from his paws and onto the table. The other staff members started at his sudden outburst, and started towards him. Volteer waved them away, and picked the book back up.

"Nonono, I'm fine. It's just that after all of that tension, I found the truth to be highly amusing, entertaining and..."

"Well if it isn't the prophecy, what is it then?" Cadence snarled, glaring at Spyro, and then back to Volteer.

"It's an instruction manual." Volteer chuckled, and then his amusement started to fade. "Though it might as well be the prophecy for its contents."

The others gathered around Volteer as he started to explain his findings.

"The first few pages are dedicated to explaining the Destroyer's purpose, and function. It's name isn't even really the Destroyer, it's name is more along the lines of Genesis, or Rapture. It was designed as a tool of destruction and rebirth. It was supposed to tear the world apart, and then reconstructed it from ground up, literally. According to the author and creator, Incandious, it was supposed to be a last resort tool for when the world became too corrupt to deserve existing. It was to purge the world of evil, and then give it another chance."

"So Malefor was right about the prophecy?" Spyro asked concerned, looking over the pages Volteer had been on. Volteer shrugged.

"I do not know. I'll have to read more to see." Then, the Guardian continued, flipping over to the next section. "After the introduction, it goes on to detailing its building process. Here it is more of a journal than an instruction manual, like I first implied. It has dates, and notes on how it was faring, calculations and blueprints. Going through the day by day construction of a doomsday weapon."

Volteer started leafing through the pages, as his colleagues examined the pages with amazement.

"Here's the picture of the Destroyer you found." Volteer stopped at the page and pointed to the picture Spyro had seen. "It appears that this was when the design was finalized, and the actual building began."

"What's that note at the bottom of the page?" Darius cut in, leaning across the table to get a better look. Volteer turned the book around, and moved it closer to the sand dragon librarian, so he could get a better look, and started reading it aloud.

"While the Golems' design is brilliant, Alchahcla's work is incomplete. They are too difficult to control without a shadow crystal and a conduit to manipulate them directly, and they are prone to not following orders when left unattended. They have simple minds, which is a flaw, as they can neither process orders like a more intelligent creature, or follow them blindly like an automaton. So while my creation will have a similar body design, it will also have a different mind structure. It will have to be preprogramed with its instructions, but will have a conduit for manual control, just to be on the safe side..."

"The Golems were created before the Destroyer?" Spyro cut in, and everyone looked at him, angry for interrupting. The purple dragon blushed a bit. "Well, I always thought the golems were designed after the Destroyer."

"That's what I thought too." Cynder murmured, nodding in agreement.

"I'm curious to know who this Incandious is, and why the name is so familiar." Inferna muttered, looking over Darius's shoulder for a better view.

Cyril frowned at the comment and nodded. "I thought there was something familiar about it as well, but I thought I had just imagined it. Maybe not."

A few of the other staff agreed with the sentiment, pursing their muzzles trying to think of where they had heard it before.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Darius closed the book, and stood up, stretching.

"Regardless," The brown dragon said, picking the book up, and putting it into his own satchel. "we should get some sleep. It's starting to get late, and we can always study the book tomorrow."

"Agreed." Terrador rumbled, speaking for the first time during the meeting. "Thank you, Spyro, for bringing this to our attention; we will have much to do now. Cadence, can you go and pick up the other books Spyro left behind. I think we should all start taking a look into these books, and not leave them all to Spyro."

The flabby wind dragon grumbled, and stomped out of the council hall. Terrador rolled his eyes skyward.

"Now then, let's all get some sleep. With the exams coming up, and all of this studying to do, we will need all the rest we can get."

The staff slowly made their way out of the council hall, chatting about the day's events. Spyro, Cynder, Darius, and Volteer lagged behind with Terrador. The Guardian of Stone looked to Volteer, and nodded his head.

"Would you like to continue studying the book, old friend?"

"Absolutely! This is an amazing opportunity to learn a bit more about what motives the Dark Master had, and about the Destroyer! It would be an honour! A privilege to..."

"Yes yes yes, we get it." Darius sighed, rolling his eyes but smiling. "Just don't start trying to build your own Destroyer now, okay."

"Most assuredly not! I will come by for the book tomorrow and start immediately! But first I must get my things together so I can take notes, make references, and try to..."

Spyro and Cynder, smirked as the excitable dragon ranted on, Darius smiling and pretending to listen, but clearly off in his own little world. The two heroes sneaked out of the room, and out into the hallway. They found Inferna and Deran standing by the doorway, waiting for them, and the couple joined the purple and black on their walk.

"Interesting finding, eh, Spyro." Inferna chuckled, moving up beside him. "And you were complaining about not finding anything worthwhile in your department."

"Yeah, but now that interesting thing is out of my paws." Spyro said, shaking his head. "It seems you Guardians are doing your upmost to make my life as boring as possible."

"The interesting stuff goes to the Guardians." Inferna huffed, tossing her head. "And since you rejected our offer to become one of us, you have to do the dull work. That's the rules."

Spyro sighed and rolled his eyes, "I don't remember agreeing to that."

"Well too bad, it's a rule now." Inferna declared, sticking her tongue out at the purple dragon. Cynder snorted in laugher at the Fire Guardian's action, and Deran a quizzical look.

"How can you stand being around her? She's so immature."

"That's part of her charm." The forge master chuckled, pecking Inferna on the head with a kiss. "And life is never dull around her. She can always make me laugh."

The four rounded a corner and padded into the great hall. Inferna gave Deran a small push, and licked his earfrill.

"And make you do other things, dear."

Deran blushed furiously, and Inferna laughed delightedly. "Like that! See!"

Spyro and Cynder joined in with Inferna's childish laugh, and Deran chuckled nervously.

"So what do you think about the book you found?" Inferna asked, suddenly maturing. Spyro glanced over at her, raising an eyeridge.

"What do you mean, what do I think of it?" Spyro asked, and Inferna shrugged.

"Do you think that the Destroyer was built to rebuild the world?" Inferna asked again, clarifying herself. Spyro paused for a moment, and then shook his head.

"I don't know what to think. On one paw, it clearly says that was its purpose. But on the other paw, it can't have been renamed to the Destroyer without a reason. And honestly, I don't want to believe that's its purpose. Because if it is, that would mean Malefor was right and I... I just don't know how I could deal with that. It's easier to think of him as an evil monster than as a misunderstood dragon trying to do what's best."

"I understand." Inferna whispered, turning her head to look at the mosaics of the grand hall, coming to a stop when they came to the one depicting Malefor. "He murdered countless innocents, nearly destroyed our race, and enslaved you, Cynder, to his will. How can we think of him as a hero, after all he's done trying to do the 'right thing'?"

The image of the monstrous purple dragon glared down at the four, his feral yellow eyes seeming to glow in the dim light.

"Even if he was right," Cynder growled, turning away from the picture and stalking away. "what right did he have to use it? If it's a last resort to cleanse a corrupt world, what right did he have to decide it was time to be used? He's a monster, through and through, no matter how you look at it."

They walked in silence for a time, dwelling on their own thoughts on the matter. They eventually reached Inferna's rooms, and the Fire Guardian and her boyfriend stopped at the door.

"Night!" Inferna called down to Spyro and Cynder, who had continued on their way. The two waved their tails in farewell, and disappeared around the corner. Inferna turned to Deran, a sly smile creeping over her features.

"Well then, dear, how about you show me what you can do. I make you smile, how about you return the favor?"

The forge master returned her mischievous smile, and opened her door. Her room was still the disastrous mess it usually was, but Deran didn't mind the mess, as he had other things on his mind. They stepped in, and shut the door, the lock sliding firmly into place.

* * *

"So, this is the lizard's room?" Torch muttered as he and his gang came to a stop in front of Lyrith's door.

"Yep." Thunder grunted, nodding in ascent. Around the two, a small group of dragons had gathered. They all bore sacks, some empty, some stuffed full.

"Alright then, here's the plan." Torch growled, turning to his gang. "It is a week until exams, so whitey will be studying furiously, just like everyone else, probably more so. If he fails these exams, he will be kicked out of the Temple for good. Since we can't mess with the exams themselves, we will do the next best thing: Mess with his study material. We fill his head with false information, and he's bound to screw up a good number of the exams. You will all pack up his stuff and replace it with the fake study pages. We take his texts and replace them, and so on."

"Uh, Torch, I hate to ruin a good plan and all." Granite grumbled from the back. "But won't he be able to tell it isn't his notes and work?"

Torch sneered at the earth dragon, who immediately backed down. "No, and that's the genius of it. I had Voltlyn here," He nudged the topaz dragoness who stood beside him, "take a look at Milky's writing. She was able to copy his scribbles almost perfectly. So he won't be able to tell they aren't really his notes."

His gang murmured, impressed at his cunning, but Voltlyn slumped, eyes downcast.

"Alright, time to get this plan into action. Get ready, we won't have long, who knows when he will come back."

Wintra approached the door, and using a thin icicle she created with her ice breath, tinkered with the lock until it opened.

The rising moon cast pale light across Lyr's room, revealing the scattered objects that lay strewn around his room. Half read books that lay around his bed, and stray pillows were scattered around his room. Stacks of paper fluttered in the breeze the now open door created, and the satchel that Lyr kept his assignments and important notes lay beside the desk. The gang entered, swiftly, picking their way around his room, stepping over the books and pillows, carefully avoiding moving anything from its appointed place.

Half of the gang moved off to the desk and started replacing notes. They stuffed the real ones into bags, and carefully placed the new fake ones where their counterparts had once lain, keeping the organization the same as they had found it. The other half of the gang moved around, finding all of the text books, and replacing them. The fake texts had the same cover as the real ones, but inside was different. They were created by a document forger that Torch had contracted for this project.

Torch oversaw the raid, smirking. Today he would finally have his revenge against the Albino who had dared to defy him. He and his gang had spent days preparing for this. Forging notes, hiring help, and making contacts to help prepare. They had planned for almost any eventuality, the only thing that could really go wrong was if the lizard, or a teacher, walked in on them at this very moment. Neither was very likely, as the teachers were at a meeting, and the Albino was off somewhere. Besides, a distraction was prepared for the Albino, just in case.

Nearly twenty minutes of replacing information passed, when a warning hiss came from Wintra, catching his attention. Alarmed, Torch rushed over to her.

"The lizard is coming." Wintra hissed, and Torch glanced around the door quickly. Lyrith was padding slowly down the hall, towards his room. He seemed distracted by something.

"Is the distraction ready?" Torch asked quietly, and Wintra nodded. She turned and made an obscure paw signal to one of the side halls by the Albino. Suddenly a group of four dragonesses of about sixteen burst from the side passage, pouncing on Lyr. He cried out, startled as they clung to him.

"What the...!"

"It's so nice to meet you Lyr! I'm Miranda! And these are my friends!" The wind dragoness who clung to his chest exclaimed, cutting him off.

"We've wanted to meet you since you beat Thunder!" A fire dragoness snickered, hugging his leg close. "We're your biggest fans!"

"Uh..." Lyrith blushed, trying to keep his balance while the four dragonesses embraced him, unsure of what to do in this situation.

"You're so strong! I bet you're the strongest dragon in the Temple!" An ice dragoness purred, gazing straight into his eyes.

"You have so many scars! Could you tell us how you got some of them?" The fire dragoness asked, tracing a few of the scars with a claw, making the embarrassed white blush even more.

"Can you show us some of your combat moves?" Miranda asked, looking up at Lyr with pleading eyes. "Please. We would really like to see them up close."

Lyrith opened his muzzle, trying to think of something, anything to say, but was unable to. Taking his silence for a yes, the four dragonesses herded Lyrith down the hall, away from his room, giggling.

Torch glanced at Wintra, impressed. "A very good distraction you've set up there. He will be so busy impressing those females that won't likely come back for some time. I bet he's never been that close to a female before!" The red dragon prince snickered, and returned his gaze to the distant figures of the Albino and the four dragonesses. "How much did you have to pay them to get them to do this, by the way?"

"Nothing, the little sluts." Wintra growled, lips curling in distain. "They all but jumped at the chance to get some 'alone time' with the lizard. I think the only reason they hadn't jumped him yet is that they had no good reason to."

Torch snorted in disgust, the two turned back into the room. Nearly everything had been replaced now. The prince glanced around the room, and caught sight of Lyr's jar of jam. He grinned evilly, and paced over to it. He popped the lid open, and looked inside. He grimaced in revulsion at the image of the white dragon stuffing the red substance into his mouth, purposefully smearing it all over his face.

The red dragon pulled out a small package from his neck pouch and poured the white powder it contained into the jam.

"Torch, what are you doing?" Wintra asked, stepping up beside him.

"I'm adding something to the white rat's favourite meal." Torch chuckled, giving the jam a quick stir with his claw, and snapped the lid back on. He wiped the sticky substance off on the scarf of the nearest member of his gang. The drake whined as he did so, but did nothing about it.

"It's nothing special. It will make Snowy a little drowsy, and make it harder to concentrate. But every bit counts towards making him fail."

"I see." Wintra grinned malevolently. "He can't concentrate during the exam, he'll have a hard time getting the answers straight."

"Precisely. It will also make it harder for him to notice errors in his 'notes' too."

"We're done boss." A young earth dragoness declared, stepping up beside Torch. "Just need to put the cheat sheets in his bag and that's everything.

"Good. Pack up his notes, and bring them with us. We'll have a bonfire in celebration of our raid. Now get back to base."

The gang picked up the sacks of notes and text books, and started out of the room. Voltlyn and Thunder leading the way, Torch and Wintra taking up the rear. As they exited the room, Torch turned and took one last look into Lyrith's room. It looked almost exactly the same as they had found it.

"Enjoy your night, lizard, because you won't have many left here to enjoy." Torch laughed deeply, and slammed the door shut behind him.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang (Lyrith, Savron, Igneous, Zindy, Tirren, Sleet, Typhous)

Torch's gang (Torch, Wintra, Voltlyn, Thunder, Granite)

Temple staff (Inferna, Deran, Darius, Cadence, Serion)

Miranda and friends

Incandious and Alchahcla.

Wow, can you believe it's been more than a month since I've last uploaded a chapter for Dark Legacy? I know, it's ridiculous. But fortunately you have this one, hopefully it satisfies for now, at least until I get chapter 17 out. That one's a doozy, and in a good way. You can expect more chapters more often from now on, as the upcoming chaps are ones I'm looking forward to writing, which means they'll be done faster than usual.

Ooh, so the book's true purpose is revealed. And yet more mysteries added to the long list! Who is this Alchahcla? Will Torch's plan succeed? And what are those dragonesses going to do with Lyrith? (Snakes and Ladders. ;) )

These questions shall be answered... In good time. :P


	17. Gratitude

Chapter 17. Gratitude

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. However, several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below._

The afternoon sun shone brightly in the clear skies over the Dragon Temple, its warm radiance bathing everything in its glow. Lyrith, Savron and Sleet all sat up and stretched from their sitting positions in Lyr's room. It was the day before exams started, and they had been busy discussing Sleet's skill with combat, and assuring the young, three horned ice dragon that he was well prepared for his combat exam. Sleet was still far from being an expert fighter, but he could finally hold his own in a real fight against multiple dummies.

"Alright." Lyrith yawned loudly, shaking his head to try and clear his weariness. "It's getting late, we should get some studying done while we have the chance."

"Okay." Sleet nodded, bending down and scooping up his bag of books and papers. Lyr stretched slowly, and yawned so wide his jaws creaked. He moved over to his desk and wearily picked up his satchel. Lyr had tidied up his room, and all of his loose papers and books were gone off of his desk and floor. Sleet made his way over to the door, along with Lyrith, followed shortly after by Savron, who plodded along behind, hoisting his own bag over his flank. Savron glanced over at Lyr's desk as they left, and caught sight of the jar of jam that sat on his desk top. It was almost empty.

"Really enjoyed that jam, eh Lyrith?" The purple laughed as they stepped out of the room. Lyrith nodded, and forced back another yawn.

"Yes. It's very good. Probably the best I've ever had."

Savron eyed Lyrith as they walked down the hall to the kitchen, raising an eye ridge.

"You seem awfully tired, Lyr."

"I am. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep." Lyrith mumbled, blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes.

The Temple was eerily silent as they made their way down the torchlit halls. All of the students were studying; whether in private, or in the library, everyone was hard at work. The three dragons left the male corridors and moved into the kitchen. Igneous, Tirren, and Typhous were sitting at one of the tables in the kitchen, loitering as they waited for something to do. They caught sight of Lyr, Savron and Sleet, and hurriedly got to their paws and joined them.

The group of six wandered down the halls of the Temple, heading towards the library. They moved in silence, none willing to break the oppressive silence surrounding them. After several minutes of walking, Savron broke the quiet, unable to take the tension building up from no talking between the group.

"Hey, Lyr. Can I ask you something?" Savron said loudly, his voice echoing back in the silence. Lyrith started at the sudden noise, and looked back at Savron, who moved up to walk beside the Albino.

"Sure." Lyrith answered, pausing for only a brief second. Savron took a deep breath, as if collecting his thoughts.

"Well, say you were deep in a forest, a long way from help, with two friends." Savron began, his voice ringing in the silence. The purple's friends looked at Savron with interest, Tirren's and Igneous's eyes sparkled knowingly, and Sleet and Typhous averted their eyes, sighing. Lyr nodded for him to continue.

"And say you were surrounded by big bulb spiders, outnumbered six to one. What would you have done? Theoretically speaking of course?"

Lyrith paused for a moment, frowning. "How dense was the foliage?" He inquired back. Savron looked at the white dragon, puzzled.

"Mushroom caps, not leaves or branches." He replied shrugging.

"Then I would have flown away." Lyr responded casually. "I mean, we're dragons, right? We have wings. When outnumbered that badly, and with no help coming, I would have retreated."

Savron stopped in his tracks, staring at Lyr in shock. The Albino continued on, not realizing the purple had stopped following him. Lyrith took several more steps before looking back curiously. Savron's muzzle hung open, as if trying to speak, but unable to. Then he turned and started bashing his head against the nearest wall.

"STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!" He shouted, accentuating each word with a bash. Tirren burst into peals of laughter, nearly falling over until Igneous supported her, grinning. Both Sleet and Typhous sighed, covering their eyes with their paws.

Lyrith looked between them confused as Savron beat his skull against a wall, and Tirren leaned against Igneous, tears rolling down her cheeks, and pointing at Savron, guffawing.

"Okay." Lyrith declared over the noise. "Now I'm curious.

...

Torch, Wintra, Voltlyn and Thunder all sat in the library reading. The place was packed with students, all whispering and writing. With the exams only a day away, everyone was anxious and cramming as much information into their heads as possible.

Torch was scrawling lazily on his page of notes in gold ink, expression bored. He had full confidence he would pass with decent grades. But decent grades were not his goal, he wanted the best grades, to maintain his status as top student. And since studying was vital to excellent grades, he struggled on through the notes, fighting off boredom. The red dragon prince let out a long sigh, and put down his quill, a sly smile creasing his features.

"I wonder how Snowy is doing? I hope he's studying hard." Torch whispered, chuckling evilly.

"Why not ask him yourself." Thunder grumbled. gesturing towards the library entrance. Torch turned to look, and his grin widened. Lyrith had entered with Savron's gang, and were chatting in low tones.

"... And he was grounded for almost a month!" Tirren whispered, holding back a laugh. Lyrith suppressed a chuckle of his own, as they picked their way through the packed tables to one of the few empty ones. Savron pouted.

"Aw, come on Tirren, you don't have to enjoy it so much."

"But I do!" Tirren snickered, glaring at Savron maliciously. "I can't believe you didn't think of flying away! You are such an idiot!"

They all took a seat at an empty table and started unpacking.

"I didn't hear you suggesting it Rin." Savron replied edgily. "So I'm not the only idiot around here."

Tirren rolled her eyes at Savron's lame comeback, and pulled out her text books. They started flipping through their text books, looking for the next subject to work on. Sleet looked up to ask Lyr what he thought they should do next, when he noticed the white hadn't taken out his work, but was instead was reading a book.

"Uh, Lyrith?" Sleet murmured, eyeing the white dubiously. "Why don't you have your notes out?"

Lyrith tore his red eyes away from his book and smiled, blinking tiredly.

"Well, because I've gotten rid of all my notes."

His friends gave him curious looks, and he elaborated, smiling in amusement.

"Well you see, I don't have to take the exams. I've only been here a month or so, so the Guardians don't expect me to be ready for them yet. So Inferna came by yesterday morning and helped me get rid of all my notes and text books. I won't be needing my notes next term, and I'll be needing new text books, so we got rid of everything." He said, grinning widely

Torch, who had been listening intently to their conversation from nearby, froze at the news. He was rendered speechless by the revelation. Days of plotting and preparing. A whole week of work and effort planning to ruin the exams the Albino would never take. His blood boiled and he could feel his entire body quivering with rage.

"Jerk." Savron laughed, patting Lyr on the back. "You get to relax while we bust our asses studying for these exams."

"I guess that's why you could spend so much time training me." Sleet commented, smiling. Lyrith nodded.

"And why you were hanging around Miranda and three friends last week." Typhous muttered, and then returned to his studying. Savron glanced over at him.

"He what?"

Typhous sighed. "I saw him playing around with Miranda and her gang last week in the gardens. They were all over him."

Savron turned to Lyrith, who was blushing lightly. "You lucky bastard! You got action with four dragonesses at once!"

"No!" Lyrith exclaimed, and then lowered his voice when several students glared at him. "We didn't... They were just... They ambushed me in the hallway. I couldn't..."

"So you like being submissive eh?" Savron chuckled, at Lyrith's embarrassed expression. The others couldn't help but snicker at his cherry red face, and stuttering excuses.

The dragons around Torch backed away as he seethed in rage. Heat radiated off of him in waves, and smoke trickled from his nostrils and out of the corners of his muzzle. The quill he was holding in his paw snapped in half, and his pot of gold ink started to bubble in the heat.

His rage was immeasurable. Not only had he wasted precious days in a vain quest to have the Albino expelled from the Temple. Not only had all of his work been disposed of like trash, but he had also given the lizard a good time with four dragonesses!

The corner of the paper he had been working on suddenly burst into flame, and it quickly blackened into a charred mass.

"Torch?" Wintra whispered fearfully as the prince boiled over in wrath. Thunder and Voltlyn had started backing away, realising that the fire dragon was about to explode at any moment. Wintra came to the same realisation a second too late, as Torch suddenly got up, and with a heave of effort, flipped the stone table over, and on top of the ice dragoness.

She cried out in surprise, as it bowled her over, and pinned her down. The entire library fell deathly silent and watched as Torch turned and stamped over to Lyrith. Notes and even small books exploding into flickering flames as he passed, his magic running rampant around him.

He arrived at the table, and Lyrith's weary mind only registered the danger the moment before Torch's paw slammed into his face, and sent him crashing to the ground. Torch raised his other paw to strike again, but before he brought it down on the stunned Albino, both Igneous and Savron rammed into the enraged red. They brought him crashing to the ground. Lyrith watched dazed as the three thrashed about on the ground, clawing and biting.

Thunder and Voltlyn heaved the stone table up, and helped Wintra escape its confinement. The ice dragoness slapped away their paws, and pulled herself up. Thunder snorted and rolled his eyes, but Voltlyn just sighed and turned away, her gaze returning to the fight.

Torch struck Savron across the face, sending him sprawling off. Igneous tried to get a good grip on the large drake, but Torch got his hind paws under him first, and kicked him off. Igneous hit a stone table hard, tipping it over, and lay over it stunned.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, TORCH!" Savron shouted, struggling to his paws. Torch snarled, rolled to his paws, and faced the purple.

"My problem! My problem is that this white freak is still here! That he is walking among us as if he is our equal! That all of you..." Torch gestured around the library at the many onlookers. "Have so easily accepted this white snake into your midst, and TREAT HIM LIKE A REAL DRAGON!" Torch turned back and glared at Lyrith, who still lay on the ground, blearily watching the proceedings.

"Fuck off Torch." Igneous groaned, pulling himself back up, and staring at the prince hatefully. "He deserves to be here as much as we do. And no matter how much you deny it, that will never change."

Lyrith looked up at his friends, suddenly overwhelmed by the sight before him. Tirren, Typhous, Sleet, even Zindy who had just arrived all stood in front of him protectively, as if to shield him from Torch. Nobles and the children of heroes he had idolized since childhood were defending him, him! A dragon who had not so long ago been the lowest of the low. An Albino nobody who had lived in squalor his whole life, and who hadn't even been educated until recently. And now he was suddenly worth defending to dragons who were so much greater than him.

A swelter of emotions threatened to overcome him. Gratitude, awe, joy and disbelief all meshed into an amazing feeling he could not describe.

Torch snarled as he and Igneous started circling one another, neither backing down.

"Why can't you just leave him alone!" Igneous demanded, fangs bared.

"Why should I?" Torch replied, a disgusted sneer of loathing plastered onto his muzzle. "He's a worthless rat. A stain on our school. He must be removed if we have any hope of getting our integrity back."

"Would you shut up! Would you just shut up!" Igneous roared, pouncing on the other fire drake. They collided and rolled across the floor, snarling.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" A furious voice demanded, and the fighting immediately stopped, and both Torch and Igneous looked up. The students moved aside to reveal Darius stalking towards them, his normally cheerful demeanour now filled with rage. Igneous pulled away from Torch, and glared down at the prince.

"It's time we stop this bickering and feuding, Torch. I declare a duel!"

"And why should I accept your challenge?" Torch sneered, getting to his paws. "If I recall right, it was you who attacked me, not the other way around. You can't make me fight."

"You attacked Lyrith. I won't stand for that." Igneous glowered, Torch's face screwed up into a mocking scowl.

"Then this feud is between him and me. Let him duel me."

"Then I will make this duel worth your time." Igneous growled, and everyone fell silent and stared at the large red dragon in surprise. "If you win this duel, I will admit once and for all that you are my better. This dispute will end once and for all."

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Torch grinned, but Igneous continued before he could agree to it.

"But if **I** win, you have to leave Lyrith alone. Forever."

Torch paused, considering the offer. Then he smirked and nodded. "I accept."

"The day after exams end, we will duel." Igneous said, face stony. Torch nodded in agreement. Darius looked between the two fire dragons, glowering.

"Well now that you two have finished your little argument, I want you to leave the library. I won't tolerate fighting in this place of study and quiet."

Igneous sighed, and moved towards the library exit, Torch and his gang followed after only a moment's hesitation. Darius glared at Savron.

"You too. I heard you fighting."

"Damnnit." Savron cursed, following after the others. "Knowing my parents, they're going to ground me for this."

Darius marched the rowdy students out of the library, and slowly the others returned to their work, flipping the upturned tables back into position. Tirren and Typhous turned to Lyrith and helped him to his paws.

"Are you alright?" The four horned emerald dragoness asked, and Lyrith nodded.

"I'm fine." He grunted. Lyrith looked into the Emerald dragoness's eyes, and felt another stab of that strange emotion. "Thanks." He murmured, looking away. "For defending me."

"No problem." Tirren grinned.

"We couldn't just let him beat on you, Lyr. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't stand up for you?" Sleet asked, smiling shyly.

_"You'd be pretty much everyone else I've ever known."_ Lyr thought bitterly. He then sighed, letting the thought go, and smiling in gratitude. _"But you guys are different, aren't you?"_

"Come on guys, let's get back to work." Tirren grumbled, sitting back down at the table. "You may have no exams, Lyr, but we still need our study time. Can you pass that book over there?"

* * *

Sleet let out a long sigh, as he scribbled the last answer down on his exam. It was the last written exam of the week, and he was mentally exhausted. The room he sat in was a spacious room, but was crammed with so many bodies that it was hard to turn around without bumping into someone.

Sleet yawned, put his quill down, and rubbed at his eyes with his paws. After weeks of studying, writing papers, and working hard, the young dragon wanted nothing more than to take a nap. Unfortunately, there was still one more exam left for him to struggle through: The combat exam, which was set to take place later this day.

Sleet yawned and raised his paw. A moment later, a male Mole servant arrived and looked at Sleet quizzically. Sleet passed his exam over to the mole, and stood up, stretching. He was confident that he would get high marks on the written exams. He had studied hard for them, and understood nearly all the concepts completely. It was the combat exam coming up next he was worried about.

Sleet quivered in fright as he weaved his way towards the exit. He had been training almost non-stop for it, but all of the combat exams he had taken before had ended badly. This exam was slightly different for each student, as the instructors focused on challenging the student's fighting style. They would use multiple different battle scenarios to find the student's strategies and weaknesses, and exploit them. They would create puzzles to be solved in mid fight, or have targets that had to be hit in a specific order to do any damage.

There were three stages in the exam, the test stage, where the student's battle style is confirmed, the challenge stage, where the student is put up against harder odds to test their mettle, and the final stage. The final stage was a battle royalle that brought everything to bear against a student, to simulate a real battle situation, where the odds were against them.

It was this that Sleet feared most, the dummies would be restrained only by a thread. They would fight to their upmost to hurt, and even cripple the student, though never permanently. Broken limbs were common in the combat exams, as were other injuries that weren't lethal, but hurt immensely.

Other factors made this exam difficult. Foes who could not attack, but if attacked would result in lost marks. Traps, armored foes, and for the skilled fighters, magic using dummies. And all of this Sleet would be facing alone, with the fate of his life at the Temple hanging in the balance.

The jittering fear was almost overwhelming to the young drake as he stepped out of the exam room, and out into the hall. Outside he found Lyrith waiting in the hall, sitting on the stone floor, tapping a claw against the ground impatiently. As Sleet exited the room, Lyrith sat up and yawned.

"And in record time too." Lyrith grinned, stretching his limbs as he stood to face the ice dragon.

"Well, it's not that difficult." Sleet mumbled, embarrassed. Lyrith laughed.

"And I might even believe you, if I didn't hear Tirren fret after each test, and Savron moaning and groaning about headaches."

Sleet smiled weakly, and they set off down the hall.

"Do you need anything?" The Albino asked, eyeing Sleet as they walked. Sleet shook his head, and then paused to reconsider.

"I guess I could use something to eat. I will probably need the energy."

Lyrith nodded and the two turned into a path that would lead to the kitchen. They arrived at the kitchen, and gathered up their meals before sitting down to eat. Sleet had taken his usual massive portion of food, but only ate halfheartedly. Lyrith watched him eat with pity. He could see the fear and despair in Sleet's eyes; though he tried to force a mask of calm on, it was completely transparent.

Finally Sleet gave up on trying to eat his meal, and took a long drink from a bowl of water nearby. Lyrith felt he should say something, but was unsure of exactly what to say to the young dragon. After a few moments of indecision, he decided to try, regardless.

"Sleet." Lyrith whispered, putting a paw on the small, three horned dragon's shoulders. "It will be fine. You may not be ready to start advanced training, but you are ready for what will come next. It will be hard, I don't doubt that, but I believe you are fully prepared to take this test."

Sleet put his bowl down and sighed. "I'm scared." He admitted eyes downcast. "I'm scared to fail; I'm scared I'll have to leave my friends. I'm scared I'll disappoint my family. It's… It's just so hard. I don't want to fail, but I don't know if I can do this. I'm not like you. You're not afraid of anything."

"I'm scared too, Sleet." Lyrith sighed, and Sleet looked up, startled into Lyr's blood red eyes.

"What!" He gasped, shocked. Lyrith nodded.

"I was scared when I first came to the Temple. I was scared that the Guardians would look down on me, make me leave. I'm scared to disappoint them, I was a bit scared when I faced Thunder, though more angry really. And I'm scared I'll lose one of my only friends because of my incompetence." Lyrith looked away from Sleet, off to the side. "But I keep going. Courage is not to be without fear; it's to move on despite it. No one is without fear, just some don't get held back by it. It's time for you to move on, Sleet. Don't let your fear hold you back any longer."

The bell signalling the beginning of the next exam rang loudly, and Lyrith stood up. Sleet stared at Lyrith in shock and amazement at what he had just heard. Lyr looked down at Sleet, red eyes locked with the smaller dragon's deep green ones. Suddenly, his scarred face no longer seemed fearsome to Sleet, so much as tired. World weary eyes that had seen more than they were ready for, and the scars to attest to the fact.

Then the moment passed, and Lyrith smiled slightly, looking away.

"Come on, your exam is going to be starting soon. Let's go." Lyr turned and padded from the kitchen. Sleet got up and followed behind, and was left wondering what he had just seen in the Albino, and what it meant for both him, and the colourless dragon.

* * *

"Excellent job Tirren!" Terrador exclaimed, patting the exhausted dragoness on the back. All around her dozens of broken red painted dummies lay, torn to pieces. Four green painted ones still ran about the area, arms flailing and occasionally bumping into each other, but were otherwise unharmed.

"That was a remarkable display of skill. Now go get some rest, the test is over."

Tirren beamed as she left the battle ground, and glared haughtily at Wintra, who scowled back. She hadn't been praised nearly as much by Terrador as Tirren had.

The training field was separated into three sections: Basic combat, Intermediate combat, and Advanced combat. Each section had two battle grounds, where a student could test in. A teacher overlooked each battleground, and kept an eye on the students, keeping score and marking them as they fought. They also took care of the animation machine that stood off to the side of each battleground. Adjusting settings and pushing buttons to change the situation for each round. They were Volteer and Spyro for Basic combat, Cyril and Inferna for Intermediate, and Terrador and Cynder for Advanced.

Students lined up along the edge of the battlegrounds for their appropriate sections, crowding together as they waited for their turn. They each held numbered cards in their paws, which signified when they would go.

Sleet stood close to the front of the basic combat section, his heart pounding as he watched the dragons fight. The closest dragon to him was an older shadow dragon of about fifteen, who was battling about half a dozen straw dummies at once. He was getting clipped by their clubs often, but had never been hit directly once. He fought mostly with claws and fangs, ripping and tearing the straw dummies that got close to him to shreds. But occasionally he blasted with a stream of shadowy fire, scorching dummies further off, and turning them against each other.

Off in the intermediate field, Sleet could see Voltlyn battling off a horde of eleven dummies, two of which were armoured. She danced among them, lashing out with a flickering, whip-like strand of lightning clenched between her fangs. The bolt sizzled through their straw bodies like paper.

In the last field, Sleet could just make out Igneous dodging among an army of a nearly twenty such dummies, almost half of which were armoured. He flipped, evaded and sidestepped multiple attacks at once, all the while tearing the strap mannequins apart with amazing ferocity.

Sleet watched entranced as the red summersaulted clear over a dummy's head, and then incinerated it with a blast of fire as he passed over it.

_"How can anyone fight like that?"_ Sleet wondered as he turned back to watch the shadow dragon. _"How can you just know instinctively what to do, without a second's thought?"_

The last of the dummies the shadow dragon had been fighting was torn to pieces by his axe shaped tail blade. Spyro stepped onto the battle field, and up to the dragon, and proceeded to tell him how he had done, giving advice and praising his attempt. The shadow dragon left the field with a relieved smile, and Spyro called up the next number.

Sleet started and looked down at his card. The number called matched his card. Sleet let out an anxious sigh, and nervously stepped forward. Spyro looked down on Sleet as he approached him, his expression tensing slightly with worry.

"Are you ready?" He asked, his voice not betraying the concern he felt. Sleet nodded reluctantly, and the purple dragon ushered him onto the field, his face becoming a mask again.

Sleet stood in the center of the battleground, the chard forms of the dummies lying in the grass and heaps of dirt like sacks of straw. Sleet took a couple deep breaths to try and calm himself, but was unsuccessful. He glanced furtively towards the crowd of students and his eyes fell on the white scales of Lyrith. The Albino nodded encouragingly and Sleet felt a small measure of relief at the gesture.

_"It's all up to me now."_ Sleet thought, trying to regulate his breathing. _"I must do this. For me, for my parents, for Crystal and my other siblings and for my friends. I will do this."_

A loud whistle sounded, and all around him the dummies started to rise. For a moment, Sleet felt panic rise into his chest again as the first four dummies rose to start the test. Then, the conversation with Lyrith before the exam, the words ringing in his head.

_"Courage is not to be without fear."_

"But to move on despite it." Sleet whispered, his resolve hardening, the fear fading into the background as he took up his battle stance.

"I will stay here at the Temple." Sleet muttered, crouching low. "And I won't let some stupid straw dummies get in the way of that."

The closest dummy struck out with its club, and Sleet ducked the clumsy blow, and rushed forward suddenly. He impaled the dummy through the gut with the horn sticking out of his forehead. The mannequin clutched at Sleet dropping the club upon impact. The young drake gave the dummy no time to do anything else as he sent a surge of ice magic through the horn and into the dummy's body. Spikes of ice erupted from its body, tearing it apart from the inside out in an explosion of chill power.

Spyro jerked back in surprise at the sudden change in Sleet. He would have never expected such a sudden and bold attack from the small drake, nor such a brutally potent use of his power.

The purpled dragon suddenly grinned. "To think that it took the threat of being expelled to bring out his potential."

Sleet evaded two more blows, and narrowly avoided getting hit by both. The third dummy raised it's club to strike, but Sleet gave it no opportunity. he whirled around and brought his tail down upon it. The strike, which would have been all but ineffective, was enhanced by the sheet of ice that coated his tail as he swung, turning it into a lethal broadsword. It sheared cleanly through the dummy's upper torso, stopping a third of the way through it's body.

The dummy toppled to the ground, and Sleet tried unsuccessfully to free his tail from its dead body. The remaining two dummies closed in, and Sleet released the magic on his tail, causing the ice to melt away. He rolled to the side awkwardly to avoid the coming blows, but was too late to evade being clipped by a club blow.

Sleet grunted in pain as he rolled for a few more feet, and coming to a stop rubbing the spot where his flank was struck. The two remaining mannequins charged, and Sleet reared up, gathering up as much magic as he could muster. When the two dummies came within range, he sent the magic exploding out of him in a wave of raw icy power.

The dummies froze instantly, freezing in place and left immobile, along with half of the battlefield surrounding Sleet. The nearby crowd of students scattered to avoid the wave of magic. But despite their efforts frost formed on some of the student's scales, and their breath came out in clouds of steam with each puff.

Sleet sat down for a moment to catch his breath. He was only lightly winded from the fight. After days of training against a similar number of dummies, it was hardly a difficult challenge.

Spyro nodded, and then pulled several levers on the animation machine he stood beside, twisting knobs and pushing buttons. Once he was done, the purple dragon pulled the switch, to start the next round.

This time half a dozen dummies pulled themselves up from the remnants of the fallen mannequins. Five were painted red, while one was painted green. In addition, two of the dummies had targets attached to various parts of their bodies.

They came forwards slower now, weapons at the ready. The green dummy however, raced around the field, waving its arms about crazily. This time, Sleet wasted no time in attacking. He inhaled sharply, standing up on his hind paws, and released his breath in an explosion of liquid ice. Three of the five red dummies were engulfed in the liquid ice, and Sleet smirked at the sight. His grin faded away as one of the three came out of the blast unharmed. It came at him, club raised.

"Crap!" Sleet gasped as he threw himself to the side to avoid the blow. The club missed and he hit the ground rolling. He got back on his paws dizzily, and didn't see a club coming straight for his face. A flash of pain spiked through Sleet's head, and he cried out as he was thrown to the frozen ground. Sleet lay groggily on the ground, watching the lights spin around his vision drunkenly.

The dummies approached, and Sleet could just make out the targets attached to their bodies. In the middle of the targets, a number and a symbol was placed in the center. The nearest one had two targets, one on its knee, with a number one and a hammer, and one on its chest, with a number two and a flame on it.

Sleet tried to puzzle out what the symbols and targets meant as he slowly got to his paws, swaying as the world spun. Then it came to him.

_"The targets are what I have to hit to kill them. And the symbols show in what order and with what I have to hit them with!"_

Sleet rolled away from another swing, and blasted another torrent of ice at the three red dummies. The two bearing the targets were unharmed by the ice, but the third one was frozen in place, a foot thick sheet of ice covering its entire body.

The green dummy, which had been running around the battlefield since the beginning of the fight, suddenly charged by, flailing its arms. Sleet abruptly ended the stream of ice, and was forced to scamper to the side to avoid being trampled by the green mannequin.

_"I have to be more careful."_ Sleet thought, cursing himself. _"If I hit the green one, I lose marks. I have to control my attacks better."_

Sleet ducked two more blows from the dummies, and then struck out with his tail at the knee with the target attached. The blow was weak, but the target shattered like porcelain under the blow. The ice drake then skipped back, and blasted the chest target with a hail of ice shards. The spikes of ice tore the offending straw dummy apart, leaving only the one red dummy left to fight.

It attacked with a swinging sweep of its club, which Sleet easily ducked. He quickly checked each target attached to this dummy, marking the ones he would have to strike first.

"Arm, physical. Leg, magic. Head, physical." Sleet whispered as he dodged yet another blow. He waited for the dummy to strike one more time, and then attacked. He swung his tail at the extended arm of the mannequin turning his tail once more into the icy sword. His sword tail tore easily through the straw and wood of the arm, and sliced it clean off, and taking the target with it. The dummy swung again with its remaining arm, and Sleet ducked. He inhaled sharply and blasted its leg with ice.

The target shattered upon contact with the ice, and Sleet jumped back from the dummy that was now rooted in place. The mannequin tried desperately to chase after Sleet, who was taking the moment of respite to catch his breath, and decide how best to get the last target.

_"It's a physical requirement. So I can't get it from here."_ Sleet mused as he examined the situation. _"But if I close the gap and try to hit it, it will likely hit me first. I can't do any of those fancy flips and dodges that Lyr and Igneous can do. So that only leaves me with…"_

It dawned on Sleet, and he unfurled his wings. He took a running start, and rose quickly into the air. The dummy frantically continued its vain attempts to get at the young dragon, swinging its club high over its head as if to bat Sleet from the sky.

Once Sleet had risen up high enough, he paused, looking down at the dummy. Then he dived bracing himself for what was to come next. The dummy finally stopped its flailing, and readied to strike Sleet from the air as he came down. Sleet swooped down, and the dummy swung. The crowd, mesmerized by Sleet's amazing improvement on the battlefield, gasped as the club moved to intercept the falling drake.

Suddenly, Sleet pulled upwards, veering away from the blow. His tail flicked out towards the dummy's head, the blade of ice still encrusting his tail. It sliced through the target, and carved the dummy's head in half. It slumped over, unmoving as Sleet landed hard on the ground, not having the physical strength to complete the flip.

The crowd, which had been holding its breath, burst into a round of applause, the dragons and dragonesses all cheering and whistling in approval. Savron, Igneous, and Tirren had joined Lyrith in watching the match, and now they all shouted encouragement. They cheered heartily as Sleet got up and bowed awkwardly, flushing at the praise.

Spyro examined the young drake, impressed, even joining in on the applause, clapping his fore paws together and nodding, his small smile showing the tips of his fangs. Then, his amusement faded, and he reached for the controls of the animation machine, pulling several more levers and switches.

_"And now for the last test."_ Spyro thought grimly as he made his adjustments. _"It's time to see what you're really made of, Sleet. Can you keep this up? Or will you fall like the other times?"_ Spyro turned the last knob, and pulled the starting switch. He turned to the field, and watched on as the last and hardest test began.

The cheering stopped as the dummies rose up out of the ground. Two of the nine were painted green, the rest were red. Four of the red were unmarked, while two more had a number of targets attached. The last and largest dummy was armoured in chainmail, and carried a huge wooden sword in place of a club. The crowd fell into a deathly hush at the vista.

Sleet balked at the terrible sight. This was more than he had bargained for. This was more akin to an intermediate test than a basic combat test. Sleet glanced nervously over to Spyro, who nodded to him, stony faced.

Sleet shook as the dummies slowly began their approach, yet oddly enough, it wasn't entirely with fear. Deep down, beneath the layers of terror, a lump of emotion lay hard and strong in his chest, and it held him firm. The emotion was something he had never felt before in a situation such as this. He felt… confidence. For the first time during a fight, he felt like he could actually make it, that he actually had a chance. And the feeling was thrilling to the young drake as he took his battle stance.

_"I… I can do this!"_ Sleet thought as he braced himself for the coming fight. _"I've done more than I ever dreamed possible for a coward like me. I've taken the first two tests and came out with only a few injuries. I won't let you, a straw and wooden farce hold me back now!"_

Sleet gave his best battle cry, which was little more than a shout, and the dummies came at him, weapons raised to strike.

* * *

Night had fallen in the jungle city of Grasbronda, and the moons shone almost full at their zenith. The skies were clear, and countless stars shone overhead. All was tranquil, the world uncaring of the cloaked figure making his way across the palace towards his master's suite.

Jaxar's hood once more cloaked his head, shrouding his hideous features in shadow. The egg shaped crystal atop his staff glowed a faint purple, illuminating the area around him. His long strides took him swiftly to the prince's chambers, where he slipped inside quietly, passing the guards by with a nod.

Ramolous lay on his massive bed of cushions and mattresses, the five Feranesses of his harem snuggled up around him. Jaxar tapped the end of his staff on the ground lightly, and the prince's eyes snapped open. He yawned, and stretched his deep crimson body out before getting up. The ivy tattoos that coiled up his forelegs and across his shoulders seem to twist at the movement. Ramolous shook out his black mane, the gold beads braided into it tinkling together as he yawned lazily once more.

"What is it Jaxar?" Ramolous asked sleepily, sitting down to look at the sorcerer. The prince was easily half again his councillor's height, forcing the half-breed to look up at his master to respond.

"I've come to wish you farewell, my lord, and apologize for the lateness of my journey. My... Companions had to be **reminded** of their duties to the throne, and of their true loyalties."

Ramolous sighed and nodded. "It is saddening to know how few are truly thinking of the betterment of our people. I thank you for your concern, and I accept your apology. After all, if it were not for you, none of this would have been possible. I would still be dreaming of the events that are about to take place. So go with my blessing, and the knowledge that this is for the best. Not only for our people, but for everyone else's as well."

The prince's servant bowed deeply. "Thank you, your majesty. I will make sure that this mission is successful, no matter the cost."

Ramolous nodded and grinned. "All of these years of planning, and my dream will finally come true. Waste no more time. I eagerly await your return." The jungle dragon moved back to his bed, and returned to his place among his harem.

Jaxar turned and left as the prince woke one of the dragonesses for another round, and quickly exited the room. He strode over to the nearest landing pad, and stepped off of it. The half-dragon-panther plummeted to the ground far below, his robes billowing as he fell. The cowl he wore was torn from his face, his hideous features bored as he raced towards the jungle floor.

Jaxar righted himself, as if to stand on the air, and then snapped his gloved fingers. A small whirlwind formed under his feet, slowing his fall as he reached the ground. The tornado absorbed the impact as he landed, halting his deathly fall. He then took a seat upon the whirlwind, crossing his legs to fit, and directed it to the meeting place.

It took off, ripping across the ground at breakneck speed, and carrying the sorcerer without jostling him through the massive trees, to the slums of Grasbronda. A few scraggly panthers and Ferans filled the streets, most either sleeping or drunk. None seemed to notice the odd sight of a robed figure riding a tornado into town. Nothing really surprised the beggars and hardworking folk of Grasbronda anymore.

Jaxar was brought to a small warehouse in the northern slums, and dispelled his whirlwind, casually unfolding his legs and touched down lightly. The half breed sorcerer brushed his robes down as if clearing them of dust. He looked around. The area was a terrible mess. Garbage thrown from the city above was littered across the shrub laden ground. The plant life was thick around the area, and the giant tree trunks that supported the city obscured the view of the rest of the slums. The houses of the area were wood and mud huts, built with moss and plant life covering the small structures.

The warehouse was built into the roots of one of the colossal trees. A large wooden building that led down into the tree, where a vast system of roots created a cave beneath the surface.

Jaxar clicked his tongue impatiently, and leaned against his staff, tapping his foot irritably.

"It hash been a vile since you haf came to shee me, Jaxar." A voice hissed from the shadows to Jaxar's left. The sorcerer perked up at the voice and grinned.

"Travix!" He exclaimed, turning to face the new comer. "It is good to see you again! I'm sorry I have been neglecting you, but Ramolous has been keeping me very busy, so I haven't been able to come and see you." Jaxar could just make out the figure in the shadows. For a moment, it just sat there, hidden from view, but at a gesture from the sorcerer it moved out into the light of Jaxar's staff.

Travix was a lithe dragon, powerful muscles rippled beneath his dark grey scales. Red strips ran across his body like rivulets of blood, seeming to flow in different directions with each movement. A V shaped crest of horns protruded back out of his head, and two almost comically large bat ears stuck out from his head. His eyes were such a pale green that they were almost colourless. But the most frightening aspect, of this already frightening dragon, was the two gargantuan fangs that stuck out of his muzzle. They curled down past his chin, and curved back slightly. Travix was a small dragon for one the age of twenty, but was faster and stronger than any in the empire.

Travix smiled, barring his nightmarish fangs, and spoke around them, his speech surprisingly fluent, if muffled.

"It ish good to shee you too, Jaxar. Haf you come for another friendly vishit? Or ish thish about work?"

"Both, actually." Jaxar admitted. "The plan is finally in motion, and I was wondering if you would like to accompany me?"

"Shoundsh like a good idea. The enforcers nearly caught me yeshterday. And beshidesh," Travix's grin widened, revealing two rows of fangs lining his maw. "It would be nice to vishit new hunting groundsh for a vile."

Jaxar grinned along with the grey and red dragon, and gestured for Travix to follow. They walked through the darkening streets together, meeting only a few along the path as they moved through alleys and deserted streets. Those they did see scuttled out of sight when they caught sight of Travix, much to the dragon's amusement.

"We will be accompanied by a group of... volunteer guards." Jaxar said, choosing his words carefully. "I would appreciate it if you behaved yourself while they travel with us. They are here for our **protection** after all."

Travix grunted and rolled his eyes. They continued on in silence for a time, before Jaxar spoke again.

"So, how has your training been going without me?"

"Vwell," Travix smirked proudly, "I finally haf illushions down. Shummoning ishn't doing sho vwell though. The lasht beasht I shummoned tried to bite my earsh off."

"You shouldn't be summoning without supervision." Jaxar scolded, and then smiled, his hideous face twisting into a grin. "But it is good to see you progressing so well. You may not need my help soon." Jaxar sighed. "I can remember the first time you actually managed to cast a spell. I was so proud of you."

Travix shook his head, his ears flopping at the movement, and grinned. "A fireball. Everyone before then hash blown up in my fache. I felt sho happy when I finally got it right. I owe you sho much Jaxar."

"You owe me nothing!" Jaxar scoffed, waving his gloved hand in dismissal.

"It wash you who shaved me from that mob ten yearsh ago. And it wash you who trained me in shpellcraft. I can never repay that debt."

"You can never repay it, because there is no debt." Jaxar chuckled. They turned back onto the main street. Travix shook his head again, smiling sadly. They fell once more into silence as they walked. The road was empty, and it wound through the trees towards the city gates. A few more minutes passed, before Travix frowned, and looked down at Jaxar.

"I'm hungry, and if you want me to behave along thish trip, I will need shome food... **now**."

Jaxar pursed his lips thoughtfully, looked around, and then gestured to an alley off to their right. They slipped inside and slunk silently through the dark corridor, keeping to the shadows. Eventually they stumbled across an elderly panther, sitting among several trash bins. He wore a scruffy, tan brown vest and was covered in filth. The two slowed and approached the disheveled feline, who started as they came into the light of the firefly lamp nearby. The beggar got to his feet slowly, and moved towards them, hands held out pleadingly, a banged up cup clutched in his grubby fingers.

"Good sir, would you be so kind as to spare a few coins? I'm so hungry, and any help would be apprecia..."

Jaxar grimaced in disgust and thrust his hand out at the approaching begger. The condensed ball of wind he had been nursing in the palm of his hand took the poor feline in the stomach, hurling him backwards into the trash bins. He lay amidst they filthy his face astonished as he coughed up some blood. His chest was caved in from the blast, and he struggled to draw breath into his ruined lungs to plead for mercy. Jaxar yawned, bored, and turned to Travix.

"Bon appetite." He smiled as the dragon pounced on the dying panther. The beggar tried to scream as Travix sank his massive fangs into his throat, body moving to pin his victim down. Jaxar watched with mild interest as the blood dragon sucked the life out of his victim, draining the wretch of every last drop of blood.

The beggar struggled for a moment, trying to break free, and then slumped as his life blood spilled into the dragons maw. His body withered until it was only skin and bone, not a drop of moisture left in the panther's body. The beggar stayed alive through the entire process, mouth agape in horror as he was devoured. Only when Travix finally pulled free from the old feline, fangs jerking out of the bone dry neck, did the life fade from his eyes.

Jaxar examined the corpse, little more than a skeleton now, with a small smile. Travix licked his fangs with a long, barbed tongue, and grimaced.

"Tashted filthy... Gritty. Hardly enjoyable."

"Well it will have to last." Jaxar declared, turning his gaze to his companion. "I don't want to deal with a mutiny because of your **delicate tastes**."

Travix sighed mournfully, and nodded in reluctant defeat.

"Haf it your way." The blood dragon turned away from his latest victim and padded down the alley back to the main street. Jaxar looked back down at the corpse, and grimaced.

"Leave me to dispose of your trash." He grumbled, sniffing with distain. With a snap of his fingers, the tinder dry body burst into a blue, smokeless flame that reduced the body to ashes in seconds. A flick of his wrist sent a gust of wind to blow the ashes away, leaving no trace of the beggar's existence. Jaxar turned back away and followed after Travix, quickly disappearing into the shadowy alley, his rich purple robes and cloak flapping in the breeze he had created.

The ashes of the deceased drifted away, unnoticed in the night sky, and would be joined by much more in the times to come.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang (Lyrith, Savron, Tirren, Sleet, Typhous, Zindy, Igneous)

Torch's gang (Torch, Voltlyn, Wintra, Thunder)

Temple staff (Darius, Inferna)

Ramolous, Jaxar, and Travix.

This was a fun chapter to write. Especially the beginning and end. Yep, Lyrith was never going to take the exams in the first place. I mean, come on! He was there for barely a month, he missed dozens of units he would have needed for his exam. The staff let him off the hook because he would have never been able to answer most of the questions on the tests. Fortunate for Lyr, unfortunate for Torch.

And I've just introduced yet another character to Dark Legacy. Travix the blood dragon. He's the last ones, I promise. XD Yes, he is basically a vampire, he needs blood to survive, though only needs to feed once every week or so. And while direct sunlight doesn't set him on fire, it does drastically weaken his abilities. No sparkly vampires here. :P

Ps. Wooo! Sixteen reviews for the chapter 16! I had never thought I would get so much attention so soon, if at all. Thank you all for the reviews, your input really brightens up my day. Now, let's see if we can beat the record. Seventeen reviews for chapter 17, bring it baby! :D


	18. Trust

Chapter 18. Trust.

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, Do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Dragon Temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. And if you don't own an automatic pierogi dispenser, get one, it's great for parties. ^^ Also, several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

It was late in the evening at the Dragon Temple, and the sun set with a vibrant orange glow. No clouds could be found in the darkening sky, and the stars gleamed in the heavens. But the land below was far from peaceful. All around the great academy of the Temple, the students celebrated the end of exams.

Groups of students danced, sang, ate, drank and socialized while listening to the cheerful, jovial music played by the many bands scattered across the Temple grounds. People from the nearby village supplied and sold goods to the celebrating students. Everyone reveled in the games, beat and company, relieved that the hardest portion of the school year was over.

But looking out of a window, several floor above the party raging below, a young topaz dragoness watched mournfully, ocean blue eyes empty. She made no move to join the cheer and joy, and sat only to watch the small groups move about, enjoying the freedom which she could never have.

Voltlyn sighed, and closed her eyes.

_"It must be so nice to have so few cares in the world."_ She thought wistfully, opening her eyes again to watch the scene below. _"To only have to worry about your grades, and whether or not you'll get to hang out with your friends that day."_

She eyed on group of students as they staggered about the grounds, laughing. They were led around the gardens below by Savron, who appeared to be singing heartily. He walked around tipsily, probably from having a bit too much of the brandy the villagers were selling. All of his friends laughed at his clumsy attempts at poetry, but none more so that Sleet, who moved about in the middle of the group, a look of amusement and relief on his young features.

Voltlyn watched with interest as they chatted and joked, taking a seat in a small clearing, and settling down. She had never had friends as close as this group was. She had always been too busy working to make any proper friends. Savron's poetry came to an end, much to his friends relief. They poked fun at his miserable attempt, and he joked along with them. Voltlyn wished that even for a moment she could be among them, laughing and joking on such a personal level.

"But it will never happen." She murmured despondently, shaking her head. "I'm hopeless at making friends. They would just laugh and tell me to 'get lost', like everyone else did."

Her eyes wandered over the group, and came to rest upon the white scales of Lyrith, who sat with the group, smiling as they talked and chuckling at their jokes. Voltyln froze at the sight of him, her eyes locking onto his face, the memory of the encounter with him in the kitchen resounding through her head, the words he had spoken echoing back to her.

_"If you need help, or just someone to talk to, I'm always willing to help out."_

"Could he...?" Voltlyn whispered as she watched him chat and laugh with his friends. Then she shook her head violently. "No." She thought, banishing the notion from her head._ "No he couldn't. There is no way **he** could help **me**."_ Voltlyn turned away from the window sharply, and started to walk away.

_"He knows._" Voltlyn's eyes which had been screwed shut, snapped open._ "He knows about Torch, and what he's been doing to me. What... What if he tells someone! It would ruin everything!"_ Voltlyn felt panic rise in her chest, but she quelled it with the same reassuring thought she had used since the colourless dragon had revealed his knowledge of Torch. _"But he hasn't yet. Nobody as come to take Torch away, no accusations, nothing."_

"But why?" Voltlyn whispered to herself, suddenly perplexed. "Why would he keep quiet? He knows what is going on, why would he do nothing?" Voltlyn shook her head violently, as it to clear it of her thoughts. "It doesn't matter." She declared to herself, turning back down the hall, and started padding away from the window. "As long as he doesn't tell anyone, then I guess you're safe."

The topaz dragoness sighed sadly, and made her way through the empty halls back to her room. Her room was fairly large, but almost every inch of it was covered in something. It wasn't messy so much as busy. Paintings of her own work hung on the walls, sets of paints and brushes were stored on shelves and in corners of the room, along side stacks of canvas and paper. Her homework was stacked on her desk. Her unfinished works of art were lined up against one wall, ready to be taken up again at Voltlyn's convenience. A large space by Voltlyn's bed of green pillows was cleared of any stray papers or paint bottles, leaving it safe to walk on. In the corner of that space, a strange box stood on a small cabinet, a tiny circular slot was placed on the top of the box, along with an odd bell shaped tube that protruded from the side and a crank.

Voltlyn shut the door firmly and wound her way over to the box, and opened the drawer of the cabinet. Inside were six small, clear crystals. Voltlyn picked through them, selected one, and slid it into the slot. She wound up the crank, and then let it go, stepping back and sitting down on the floor.

A soft mournful tune started to play. A lonesome flute, clear and beautiful sang out amidst the low sonorous tone of brass and woodwinds.

The machine was old and beaten up, but it was the one possession Voltlyn still had from her child hood. Her father had found it in a pawnshop while searching for a gift for her hatchday. It had been broken at the time, which was the only reason her could afford the machine that used to be worth a fortune. He had tinkered with it until it had worked again, and then gave the music box to his ecstatic daughter, along with a music crystal he had procured from the same pawnshop.

Over the years Voltlyn had accumulated several more of the rare music crystals, which she played whenever she could, to remind her of those happy times.

"Why did it have to come to this?" Voltlyn mumbled, feeling tears prick her eyes as she listened. "Why did you have to die? Why did we have to go and work for Charah and her family? Why can't I just...?" Voltlyn broke into a series of small sobs. She turned and climbed into her bed, sniffing fitfully.

She lay for a while, weeping silently as the party raged outside, but eventually the mournful melody lulled the distressed dragoness into a deep, dreamless slumber.

* * *

"Sav, that was the worst poem I have ever heard!" Tirren guffawed, as she held her sides, tears rolling down her face. "You had the rhythm all wrong! Not to mention none of it rhymed!"

"Itsh washn't that bad." Savron protested, slurring his words as he sat unsteadily on the grassy turf of the garden.

"You're right. It was worse." Sleet snickered, and Savron pouted as all of his friends joined in the laughter.

"Ffine, be that way. But I... I know you're all just jealoush of my good looks and charm." He grumbled between hiccups, tossing his head, and huffing indignantly. Tirren burst into an even louded spree of laughter, causing her to fall over, racked with uncontrolled giggles. This time even Savron laughed as Tirren tried unsuccessfully to get in a breath between bouts of laughter.

"You... Charm... Gnorc Butt... Goodlooks..." Tirren wheezed, unable to get her insult out between chuckles.

The laughter slowly subsided and they all fell into a contemplative silence. Lyrith took a sip from his bowl of mead and eyed the group around him. Their silence wan't entirely awkward, so much as it felt like everyone was gathering their thoughts. A sudden change in the music drew Lyrith's attention away from his friends, and to the party around them.

The band had struck up a slower, more sonorous tune that reverberated around the gardens. It was steady and powerful, and Lyrith was utterly enraptured by it. The students who were out dancing stopped, and started up a more formal dance to match the music. They each took up partners and started to move.

The partners seemed to circle each other as they danced, eyes locked as they moved their paws to the beat. However, the truly entrancing part of the dance, was the placement of the paws and the movement of bodies. Each move was purposeful, and flowed like water as they twirled, bounded, and glided with grace in a pattern that was simply beguiling.

Tirren caught Lyr's gaze as he sated at the dancers, almost slack jawed with amazement.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Se smiled, also fixing her attention onto the dancers. Lyrith nodded.

"It's the traditional ritual dance of the Shadow Dragon Tribes to the west." Sleet said, drawing all of his friends' attention. "It has no specific purpose as a whole, but rather multiple meanings depending on the way it's danced. The closer the partners are shothe closer their relationship is. Distant for strangers, closer for friends, and touching for a much more... intimate relationship."

Lyrith took a closer look at the dancers and realized that there were subtle differences in each partner's dance. Some stood a good distance away, expressions formal, while others were much closer to each other, many touching or almost touching. These dancers had grins on their faces, and laughed as they danced.

"The speed, number of partners, and direction of the dance also has meaning." Sleet continued his rambling, as if reading aloud from a textbook. "Different numbers of partners shows how communal the event is. Two is a personal dance, less than a dozen is a family dance, and more is usually a religious dance. The speed also signifies comfort with the partners. Slow shows caution and care, while fast is more personal and shows confidence in the partners."

Lyrith caught sight of Deran and Inferna dancing amidst the students. Their sides frequently touched, and they all but spun around the garden so quickly that their paw movements were almost blurred. They laughed as they danced, clearly enjoying in invigorating movement. Most of the other couples who touched as they danced move slower, watching each other's movements and measuring up their partner as they danced.

"The direction is also symbolic. The motion you see now shows cheerfulness and friendship. But if the steps are reversed it means the complete opposite. Such a dance is often done before wars or duels. Even here though, speed and distance still have meaning. The speed shows challenge, and how seriously the dancers take each other. Distance shows the level of enmity. If two dancers are touching while the steps are reversed, it is basically declaring war against the individual."

"Wow Shleet." Savron chuckled, patting the ice dragon on the back. "How do you know thish shtuff?"

Sleet shrugged and continued watching the dance play out.

"Well, all thish talk of dansh hash me in a good mood." Savron declared, getting up a bit unsteadily. "Rin, care for a dansh?"

"No." Tirren said flatly."

"Come on Rin!" Savron complained. "Jusht one little dansh!"

"Absolutely not."

"I don't see what the problem is, Rin." Igneous spoke up, shrugging. "He's only asking for a short dance, what's the matter with that?"

"But..." Tirren mumbled, shocked at Igneous's flippant response.

"Yeah Rin. Jusht a shhort dansh. Come on, it'll be great!"

Before Tirren could refuse, Savron grabbed her by the paw with his tail and all but dragged her away. Tirren looked back at Igneous, despair written all over her features, but Igneous was too preoccupied with his drink to notice, and only waved to them as they left.

Typhous, Sleet and Lyrith all shared an exasperated look, rolling their eyes in unison.

"I'm out of cream!" Zindy called, swallowing the last of her bowl of cream and waving it in the air for everyone to see. Igneous looked up and smiled.

"I'll go get some more. I'll be back in a second." Igneous got up and, taking all of their empty bowls, set off to refill them. The lineup at the refreshments table was fairly short, and it only took Igneous a couple of minutes to replenish their drinking bowls.

He had just topped off Lyrith's mead when a snide voice greeted him from behind.

"Hello, Igneous. Having fun I take it?"

Igneous sighed, and turned around eyes narrowing as he faced Torch who stood not far away, backed by his usual entourage of Wintra and Thunder.

"Oh, it's you." Igneous replied flatly, picking up the dish that he had placed the full bowls on.

"Stating the obvious as always, Igneous." Torch smirked. He and his friends moved to block the large red's way. "You plan on preparing for tomorrow's match by drinking and partying? Or are you just going to give me the winning title?"

"Don't think I haven't been practicing, Torch." Igneous growled, glaring down at his rival as he stood on his hind paws, holding the tray. "And you won't have your cronies backing you up in the arena. You've been getting soft letting your goons do all the fighting for you."

"He isn't soft, dolt!" Wintra hissed, taking a step forward to confront Igneous. "He just doesn't want to waste his time on fools and weaklings!"

"I suppose you have a point, Igneous." Torch yawned, waving Wintra back. The ice dragoness glared at Igneous imperiously, and stepped back behind Torch. Thunder watched the two fire dragons with interest, his expression one of amusement as the two bantered.

"I haven't been doing much myself. I think it is time that I reminded the Temple why **I** am the top drake around here."

"I think the only thing you will be reminding everyone, Torch, is how inept and foolish you are." Igneous grunted, moving past them. Torch and his gang let Igneous pass, but the smug smirk never left Torch's face.

"Good luck, Iggy!" Torch called after his rival. "You'll need it by tomorrow!"

Igneous ignored Torch's last comment as he made his way back to his friends, winding through the small groups of celebrating students. Igneous returned to find Savron and Tirren sitting back among their group. The slim, four horned green dragoness sat as far away from the purple as she could, keeping her gaze pointedly away from him. Savron on the other paw, sat nursing a bright red, paw shaped mark that bloomed across half of his face.

Igneous raised an eyeridge and looked at Savron quizzically.

"Don't ashk." The amethyst coloured dragon mumbled, keeping his eyes on the floor, rubbing the mark gingerly.

Igneous felt a smile tug at his muzzle, but forced it down, taking a seat beside Tirren.

"Got the drinks right here." He grunted as he plopped down on his haunches, placing the dish of drinking bowls on the ground. The bowls were quickly taken by the group, but as Savron leaned back to drink from his, Tirren came forward and plucked it from his paws.

"Hey! Give thhat back!" He complained, reaching out to grab it back from her. She stepped back, and stood on her hind legs to keep it out of his reach.

"No, you've had way too much to drink." Tirren declared, turning the bowl upside down and spilling the brandy it held all over the ground. Savron looked aghast as she threw the bowl away, the wooden dish vanishing into the undergrowth.

"I haffent had thhat mutsh" He grumbled, moving to stand, but stumbling on the way up. Tirren sat back down on her haunches, smiling smugly as Savron got to his paws, wobbling uncertainly.

"Actually, I think she's right Sav." Typhous murmured, getting up to help steady the purple, who looked like he was about to topple over at any moment. "You should probably lay down and get some rest. Drink a bit of water. You're going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow."

"Ffine. I'll go home." Savron sighed mournfully. "It'sh obvioush you don't want me here. You're all too important to hang around a fool li-hic me! I'll jusht go and shulk in bed while you haff fffun." Savron pushed away from Typhous, and staggered off back into the Temple, occasionally hiccuping as he left.

Tirren rolled her eyes at his speech, and Igneous couldn't help but chuckle at his attempt to sound pitiful.

"Thank goodness he's gone." Tirren sighed in relief, her posture becoming more relaxed. They all drank from their bowls in silence for a time, enjoying the scene around them. After a long moment's pause, Lyrith spoke.

"Are you ready for the duel tomorrow, Igneous?" He asked, putting his bowl down and looking over at the large crimson dragon.

Igneous glanced over to the Albino, surprised. The others also looked at the white, Lyrith having hardly spoken at all during the party.

"Well, yeah. I suppose." Igneous murmured, abashedly, looking away from Lyr's penetrating red eyes.

"Suppose?"

"As ready as I'm going to get." Igneous sighed, shifting uncomfortably from where he was sitting. Lyrith stared at Igneous curiously. He remained silent for another minute, before speaking.

"Is Torch really as powerful as they say?"

"More." Igneous replied without hesitation. "He's incredibly talented with his magic. He can do things with fire that I'm still struggling to learn. It isn't going to be an easy fight."

"Don't say that." Tirren scoffed, shuffling closer to the big red and laying a paw on his shoulder. "You beat him the last time around. And you've been training hard ever since. You won't lose."

"You've never stepped into the ring with him Rin, it's terrifying."

"Don't be so down on yourself, Igneous." Sleet said encouragingly. "Your magic is way stronger than his, you can take him!"

Igneous took a long, deep breath, and smiled. "I guess you're right guys. I shouldn't worry too much about it. If I do, then I might just do something stupid and screw up when I should be focusing. Thanks for the support guys."

"No problem." Tirren grinned, placing her paw on top of his in a comforting gesture.

"Igneous." Lyrith murmured, looking into the fire dragon's red eyes with unwavering confidence.

"Kick his ass."

* * *

It was a cool shady day in Warfang. Puffy white clouds covered the early afternoon sky. A soft drifting of snow fell down, blanketing everything in a layer of white. Lyrith sulked in his room, watching the play ground bellow from the window, pouting as the other orphans played delightedly in the snow.

The young dragon's third set of horns had almost finished growing in, looking ridiculously large on his small, frail white body. To the casual observer, he would appear roughly five, six years old, but he was actually closer to eight. Several cuts and bruises marred his thin frame, darkening his snow white scales in blotches. He was pathetically slim, ribs showing through his scales, his body little more than scale and bone. Bullies frequently robbed him of his meals to satiate their gluttony, leaving Lyrith to survive on little more than a meal a day, two if he was lucky.

The Albino shivered as a chill breeze passed through a crack in the window, and he let out a long sigh.

"Stupid jerks." He mumbled, shifting from paw to paw, looking away from the window.

A knock at the door caught his attention, but Lyr refused to answer it, keeping his eyes away from the door. Another knock, more insistent this time. Lyr still refused to budge. Finally, after yet another unsuccessful attempt the lock rattled, and the door swung open. A large fire dragon entered and looked around, spotting Lyrith by the window.

"You can come out now, Lyrith." The adult said, his voice gruff and serious. Lyrith turned to look at the dragon, his red eyes brightening up considerably.

"Really!" He asked, excited. The adult nodded. Lyr sat up and scampered towards the door. The orphanage staff member let him pass, and he raced through the hall, down the stairs and into the lobby. He skidded to a stop as he entered the lobby and snorted derisively.

"The jerks didn't have to ground me. I didn't start the stupid fight." Lyrith grumbled, rubbing his bruises sorely. The day before, Lyrith had gotten into a scuffle with a big shadow dragon over who really had possession over Lyr's lunch. By some miraculous means, Lyr had gotten the upper paw, despite being smaller and thinner. The colourless dragon had taken full advantage of his situation by beating the black dragon bloody.

It was only then, of course, that the staff had intervened, breaking up the fight. Lyr had been firmly grounded by the staff, getting neither lunch, nor dinner, and was forbidden to take part in any of that day's activities. The shadow dragon, depite having started the fight, had gotten off with a scolding and no lunch as a punishment.

Lyrith grumbled and shook his head at the memory. "At least now I can go outside and play in the snow." He sighed, a tiny smile creasing his tiny muzzle.

Lyr slipped out the back door, and into the snowy playground. He cautiously stepped onto the white fluffy snow, and found it pleasantly cool on his paws. He bounded out happily, frolicking among the drifts keeping as far away from the other orphans as possible. He laughed in delight as he scattered the snow around, sending up plumbs of white up into the air.

Lyrith dove into a particularly large drift of snow and rolled around in it, reveling in the cool softness of the new fallen snow. Lyr got up after a minuet of wallowing, and sat down panting, sides heaving, his small pink tongue hanging out the front of his muzzle. Glancing around, he decided that the snow was wet enough to make a snow cheetah, and started gathering up some snow.

He got to work on the bottom first, rolling the base around until it was too heavy for the emaciated Lyrith to move. He then started on the second part of the cheetah, rolling it until it was just big enough to fit, but still light enough for him to carry. The small white dragon heaved the ball of snow up, and plopped it down on top of the first one, and then set about making the head.

Once the head was attached, Lyrith scoured the area for two pointy rocks, which he stuck in the head like ears. He then used two more rocks to make eyes, and stuck another ball of snow on the front of the cheetah's face to make a muzzle. Finally, once the stick arms were attached, Lyrith stood back to examine his work.

The cheetah was miss-proportioned, with a blobby base, a too small upper body, and an overlarge head. The stick arms weren't the same length, and the eyes weren't aligned properly. Yet Lyrith felt a glow of pride at his achievement regardless. It was **his** snow cheetah. He made it himself, with no help at all. It may not be the prettiest snow cheetah, but that didn't matter, it was **his**.

"Hey, nice snow Ape, freak!" A snarky, cruel voice laughed raucously behind Lyr. Lyr flinched and slowly turned to face the speaker.

The grey wind dragon, Jaheel, padded up to the white, his posse following behind him. The young wind had gathered a large following in the three years he had stayed at the Dragon's Glade. Nearly off of the youngest dragons had collectively gathered around Jaheel, seeing the tough, snide drake as a natural leader. Jaheel himself was thickly built, by far the bulkiest of his group with only a portion of his bulk being muscle.

Among his group, Lyrith could see the black shadow drake he had fought the day before. He was one of the older orphans of the group, being only a year younger than Jaheel who was two years Lyr's senior. One eye was swelled shut, and several bruises could just faintly be seen beneath his black hide.

Jaheel's following laughed at their leader's joke, making Lyrith snarl defensively.

"It's a snow **cheetah**, stupid!"

"I still say it looks like an Ape. It's sure as hell ugly as one." Jaheel chuckled, moving closer. Lyrith stood in front of his creation, quivering with rage and fear.

"I don't think something as ugly as this should be aloud to exist, don't you think!" Jaheel called back to his friends, and they laughed in agreement. Lyrith took up a defensive stance, ready to defend his snow cheetah.

"No! I won't..." He got no further, as Jaheel reached forward, grabbed Lyr by the horns and shoved his face into the snowy ground. The wind dragon held him there as his gang rushed passed, the shadow dragon pausing to kick hard at Lyr's frail body. Lyrith struggled vainly against Jaheel's paw, sobbing in frustration as Jaheel held the hunger weakened Lyr down, snickering.

Finally the bulky wind let him go, and shoved the Albino over into a snow drift. Lyrith drew in a deep, shuddering breath, and watched in horror as his precious snow cheetah was torn to pieces.

"No." Lyrith whimpered, tears welling up in his eyes as he watched them topple his creation over, and start smashing it with their tails, laughing. "No."

Suddenly, Jaheel cried out in shock and surprise, and clutched his face with a paw. Everyone stopped what they were doing, to stare at their leader with puzzlement. Then, a snowball whizzed out of the blue and caught him in the stomach. Jaheel staggered back, stunned. Then more snowballs fell, striking each of the bullies in rapid succession. The gang cried out in shock, and scattered. The white dragonling couldn't help but snicker as the bullies raced around the area, desperately trying to avoid the hail of snowy projectiles. The snowballs smacked into the dragons hard, sending many of them staggering backwards.

Finally, when a particularly hard one caught Jaheel between the hind legs, the wind cried out to his gang.

"WE'RE LEAVING! NOW!"

The gang fell in behind their leader, who waddled away as fast as he could, hind legs pressed together in pain. Lyrith watched them go in stunned amusement. He glanced around, looking for the one who had driven off the bullies and called out nervously.

"Who... Who's there! Come out!"

A brilliant laugh echoed out from nearby, and Lyrith whirled to face it. From out behind a snow drift, a slim white dragoness stepped out of hiding. Like Lyrith, her scales were snow white, but that is where the similarities ended. She looked to be about sixteen years of age, she was very curvy for most dragonesses her age, and her underbelly was a lustrous silver. Her four horns were a slightly darker silver in colour, and her eyes were a vibrant orange, the colour of autumn leaves.

She smiled warmly at Lyrith, as she stepped out.

"I'm over here! You okay, squirt?" She asked, her orange eyes twinkling with both amusement and concern.

"Ye... Yes." Lyrith mumbled, shocked at the sight of another Albino. "And... And my name isn't squirt! It's Lyrith!" He finished, regaining his composure.

The white dragoness raised an eye ridge. "Okay, Lyrith. It's good to see those jerks didn't beat you up too bad." She eyed the bruises that marred Lyr's scales. He looked down at them, and flushed.

"The... these are from yesterday." He stuttered.

"Oh. Well that makes it perfectly okay then." The dragoness sighed sardonically, moving to sit down beside Lyr.

"I haven't seen you around here before." Lyr murmured, gazing up at her. She looked down at him and smiled sadly.

"I just got here today. Wish I could say I'm just here for a friendly visit, but unfortunately not..."

"Oh." Lyrith murmured, looking away. They sat for a few moments in silence, with only the sound of the orphans playing in the snow to remind them where they were.

"So... You want some help rebuilding that?" The dragoness asked, her autumn orange eyes flicking up to the destroyed snow cheetah. Lyrith glanced up at her, surprised at the offer, and then nodded vigorously. The dragoness smiled.

"Well, come on Lyrith. It won't just rebuild itself now will it?"

They got up onto their paws, and smiling, started rolling up the balls of snow for the new snow cheetah body. As they worked, Lyrith looked up at the dragoness, and odd feeling of warmth welling up inside of him that made him quiver with joy.

_"She's... She's actually being nice to me!"_ Lyrith thought as they finished the base of the body and started on the upper body. _"And she even defended me from those bullies! I don't... I don't remember anyone ever doing that before. She's... She's..."_ He had never, ever felt like this before. There was a glow in his chest that sent his small, thin body shivering, and he felt his eyes tearing up, despite being far from sad. A smile broke over his features, and he tried hard to keep from bouncing up and down in happiness.

"So, um... Miss? What's your name?" Lyrith asked as he plopped the snow cheetah's head on. The dragoness chuckled as she stuck an arm into its body.

"Miss? Don't be so formal. I'm an orphan like you, not an old maid." The dragoness stuck the ears on, and Lyrith placed the eyes and muzzle on its face. They stepped back to examine their work. It was by far than the one Lyr had made by himself. Its arms were straighter, and of the same length. Its body was in proportion, and the eyes and muzzle were properly aligned. Even the rock actually looked like proper feline ears. The dragoness looked at Lyrith, beaming.

"The name's Malicina by the way. It's nice to meet you, squirt."

* * *

Lyrith's eyes opened, and he started up at the ceiling of his room blankly, the memory of that winter night still fresh in his mind. He shivered, and curled up on his bed, his white body quivering with chills. Lyrith looked up after a minuted of shivering on his bed of cushions, fangs chattering, and looked out through the window.

It was still dark out, but he could faintly see the light of the sun, preparing to rise over the horizon. A warm spring breeze drifted through the open window, but Lyrith's shivering refused to abate. He climbed slowly out of his bed and padded slowly over to his closet.

Lyr opened it and stared at the thick wool blanket inside. He drew it out and gazed at it, feeling it's soft warmth in his paws. He looked over it with indecision for a moment, his nervous apprehension combating his need for warmth.

A spasm of shivers racked him and he made up his mind. Lyrith draped the blanket over himself, and shut the closet door with a flick of his paw. Lyr waddled over to the mattress that sat in front of his large window, and sat down on it, drawing the blanket around himself until only his face was exposed.

His shivering slowly faded as he sat, warmed by the light of the rising sun, and the wool shroud he wore. A contented warmth nestled into his chest as he made himself comfortable, so he could watched the sun rise.

* * *

The crowd buzzed with excitement in the stands above combat arena, the battle ground resting far below, waiting for the combatants to enter.

Lyrith sat on one of the high balconies, gazing down at the sand arena floor, his blood red eyes searching the battle field where he had fought Thunder not so long ago. Beside him, Savron groaned and covering his ear frills to block out the noise of the crowd, his green eyes bloodshot. On the other side of the balcony, Tirren also gazed down at the battle ground, her body was tense with worry, and her gaze anxious as she scoured the arena with her eyes.

To Lyrith's direct left the red dragon Burnam chattered endlessly to the white dragon, to which Lyrith only half listened.

"I can't wait! It's been so long since anyone's fought Igneous! And I wasn't even here the last time someone dueled Torch! This is so exciting! I hope Igneous wins, not that I think he'll lose mind, but from what I've heard of Torch's last duel, he's crazy good at fighting! I heard the last duel the two had was **really** close, and that Torch almost had Igneous, until he..."

"Shut it, they're coming in now." Lyrith growled irritably, and Burnam's muzzle shut abruptly at Lyr's frustrated tone of voice.

On either end of the arena, tow fire dragons emerged. Igneous was clad in a magnificent suit of bright steel plates. Engraved into the metal was the pattern of flickering flames. His helmet was close faced, with only two slits for him to see out of.

Torch however, was armoured in a set of chain mail reinforced with small plates of metal. The entire suit appeared to be plated in gold, which glimmered in the light of the noon sun streaming through the windows high above. The rubies that encrusted Torch's armour gleamed as they took position on either side of Terrador.

Igneous glared at Torch with disgust and hatred as they came to a stop. Torch returned the stare imperiously, a coy smirk etched across his muzzle.

"This is it, Torch." Igneous hissed as the crowd quieted. "Today this foolish feuding comes to an end. Today I finally make you shut your trap, and leave Lyr alone!"

"That won't be happening, Iggy." Torch sneered as he lowed himself into a battle stance. "I'll beat you senseless, and prove my superiority. And once that's done, I'll do my upmost to get that freak purged from our school."

"This will be a no limit challenge." Terrador announced, cutting off the two rivals. "The match will only end if one or both combatants are rendered unable to fight, surrender, or is subjected to a deathlock. Armour may not be removed at any time, but other than these rules, all else is permitted by these two combatants. Let the match **begin**!"

The Earth Guardian exploded upwards into the air to escape the coming battle, but neither opponent made a move. They stood stalk still, waiting for the other to start the fight.

It was Torch who acted first, drawing in a quick, shallow breath, he expelled a small glob of fire right at Igneous's visored face. The burly red ducked the blast, and jumped the tail swipe Torch aimed at his legs.

Igneous landed and released his pent up magic around him in an explosion of flames. Torch, caught off guard, hissed in surprise as the orange flames washed over him, scorching his armour and scales. In retaliation, the prince unleashed a wash of blue flames at Igneous.

Igneous shrugged the blast off and tackled Torch to the ground.

The crowd screamed in excitement as the two rivals rolled across the ground, biting, clawing and snapping as they fought. It was Igneous who broke the grapple, getting underneath Torch with his hind legs, and shoving the large drake off. Torch soared into the air, somersaulted, and landed on his paws. He twirled, and struck out at Igneous with his tail.

Igneous, who was rising to his paws, was caught across his helmeted head, and was sent reeling back. Torch followed up the attack with a ball of fire. The projectile detonated in front of Igneous, sending Igneous sprawling on to the ground.

The crowd gasped as Torch started circling his opponent, who rose slowly to his paws to face him.

Lyrith watched intently, gripping the railing of the balcony tightly with his forepaws. The battle was intense, the heat of the flames could be felt clearly even from where he sat, high above the battlefield.

"Wow. I see why there two are the top students at the Temple." Lyrith murmured as he watched. "Against either of them, I wouldn't have held up for more than a few minutes before being toasted to a crisp."

Igneous rose, rolled to the side, avoiding another small ball of fire, and then unleashed a column of molten blue-white flame. Torch tried to sidestep it, but it caught him on the side, grazing him. Torch howled in pain as the liquid fire sloshed over his side, searing his legs and wing.

The prince stumbled to the side, and behind a pillar of stone. Igneous approached it slowly, expecting an ambush. Torch leapt out behind the pillar, drawing in a deep breath. Igneous dove to the side, expecting either a ball of fire, or a direct blast of flame.

He got neither. Torch unleashed a barrage of small fireballs, sweeping his head in an arc across the ground to focus on where Igneous had fled to. The balls of fire exploded in small detonations as they struck the earth, sending up clouds of hot sand. The barrage hit Igneous, and the explosions battered him to the ground.

Torch smirked, and let the attack slow to a stop. Igneous lay groaning on the sand floor, hardly moving. The crowd fell horribly quiet as they watched Torch pad over to the fallen dragon, who seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Are you starting to realize you're no match for me, Iggy!" Torch shouted, letting his voice carry across the arena.

"Come on Igneous." Tirren whispered, watching fearfully as Torch made his way slowly over to his fallen foe.

Igneous wheezed out something incomprehensible and Torch stepped up beside Igneous, grinning.

"What was that? A declaration of surrender?"

Igneous turned to face Torch, and abruptly exhaled the breath he had been holding in. A stream of shimmering ash and smoke erupted form his muzzle, catching Torch directly in the face.

Torch started back, roaring in pain. He reared up and clutched at his face, while was black with soot.

"Fuck! FUCK FUCK **FUCK**! My eyes! My fucking..."

Igneous heaved himself off the ground and bowled straight into Torch, who was wobbling around, trying to get away while clearing his vision. Igneous bore Torch to the ground, slamming him hard into the sandy turf. Igneous moved into position, pinning Torch to the ground, his jaws clamping around Torch's neck in a deathlock. The countdown began.

"Five... Four..."

Torch roared in fury, his magic gathering into him so quickly that the air in the entire arena chilled for a moment. The crowd faltered as they felt the chill as the warmth was sucked out of the air. Torch growled and released the magic around him. There was no burst of fire or flame. There was only a shimmer in the air as Igneous was thrown bodily off of Torch and sent him slamming into one of the stone pillars.

Igneous gasped in pain, from both the impact and the blast of heat energy that had just blown him away. Torch snarled and flipped over swiftly, getting back upon his paws in one smooth motion. He glared at Igneous, his eyes streaming from all the ash and smoke he had been struck with, and sneered.

"Okay, that's it, now I'm pissed. You're going to feel pain like nothing you've ever felt before." Torch inhaled, and another shimmer appeared around his muzzle. He exhaled and a ball of shimmering heat shot towards Igneous, who saw it coming and rolled to the side, just in time. The ball hit the ground, and sent up a spray of melted sand in the air, narrowly missing Igneous.

"Go Igneous!" Savron cheered from the sidelines, raising a paw in the air. "You can do it! Show that bastard who's the best!"

Tirren was also cheering Igneous on, all but jumping up and down in her enthusiasm. Zindy was bouncing up and down, but her cheers were completely incomprehensible. All around their balcony, more students started to take up the cheering, until it was a howling roar of noise, all calling out Igneous's name.

Lyrith grinned as Igneous managed to land a good blow on Torch, and Burnam slapped him on the back, grinning widely.

"Come on, you can do it." Lyrith whispered, leaning over the balcony edge to watch the battle more closely. "You **can** win this."

Igneous evaded another blast of heat, and spat a ball of blue-white flame at the prince, before jumping back to gain some ground. Torch raised a paw and the ball flickered and sputtered as it neared Torch, until the brilliant blue-white dimmed to a low red. The tiny fireball splatterd harmlessly off Torch's armour, and the red prince grinned wickedly. He moved his paw, which now shimmered with the heat he had absorbed from the fireball, and fired a blast of heat at Igneous.

The burly fire drake staggered back a few paces, winded, his armour glowing red at the point of impact. Torch darted forward and slammed Igneous in the chest with his helmeted head, sending the dragon tumbling to the ground.

"It's hopeless, Iggy." Torch laughed, kicking at his rival who gasped for breath. "You can't beat me. It won't be like the last time where I let my guard down. I'm going to tear you apart."

In response, Igneous swept Torch's paws out from under him with a swipe of his tail. Torch cursed violently as he fell, hitting the sand face first, much to the amusement of the audience. Torch snarled and tried to rise, but Igneous got to him first.

The burly red rolled over to Torch, and slammed his paws into Torch's back pinning him down. Torch struggled to free himself, but Igneous was stronger and managed to hold Torch in place. Igneous raised a paw, and started striking the red dragon prince across the face with his taloned gauntlet.

"For Tirren! For Sleet! For Lyith! For Typhous! For me! And for all of my other friends you bastard!"

Torch roared as he was pummeled by Igneous, and after a particularly heavy blow, blasted Igneous with a blaze of fire. Igneous hissed and released Torch, who leapt up and staggered back, spitting out blood.

"I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU!" Torch screamed, fury filling his eyes. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH TOYING AROUND, EXCHANGING BLOWS! I AM ENDING THIS **NOW**!"

Torch reared up, and started glowing a bright red, his yellow eyes burning orange. Igneous took a step back in fright as flames started gathering around Torch like a cloak, heat pouring off of the prince in waves. Then Igneous hunched over, bracing himself, fangs gritting as the crowd which had been roaring in approval, fell silent.

Torch grinned malevolently at Igneous. "You lose."

White flames exploded out of Torch in a massive burst, devouring everything they touched as Torch unleashed his fury. Igneous, roaring, was engulfed by the flames. The crowd gasped as Torch used his most powerful ability, shocked at the sight they had just witnessed. Lyrith, Tirren, and all of the other students who watched from the edge of the balconies were bowled over by the solid wave of heat that washed over the arena.

Inferna started to her paws, a look of horror crossing her features. The other Guardians too, all exclaimed at the violent explosion, but none moved from their places. In a no limits match, even furies were permitted.

Finally the flames faded, revealing the scene below. Torch stood weakly, drained from his ultimate attack, Igneous laying not far away. The sand directly around Torch had melted to molten glass, but he seemed unaffected by it as he burst into raucous laughter.

"I've won! I'm the best! I'm undefeatable! No one can stop me!"

Terrador sighed, and shaking his head got up to ring the gong. Torch's laughter was abruptly cut off as Igneous, whom everyone had taken as unconscious, rose up from the ground. His bright steel armour was blackene, and glowed faintly red. Drifts of smoke rose from it, and a slight sizzling could be heard as the armour burned his scales. Yet it was not this that stunned everyone to silence. It was the shimmer around him, that distorted his body into strange shapes that drew everybody's breath.

Igneous grinned at Torch's dumbfounded expression. One eye was shut, and the other was tearing, but he grinned all the same.

"What? Did you think you were the only one who learned how to manipulate heat?" Igneous asked, his soot blackened visor echoing his amusement.

Torch turned and tried to make his escape, but his weakened body could hardly move. He stumbled only a few steps before Igneous released the heat he had absorbed from the fury. The ball of intense heat hit Torch like a battering ram, sending him flying through the air. He bounced once, twice, and then slammed into a stone pillar with a clang. Torch collapsed to the ground, and didn't move.

The crowd was silent for a moment, all eyes fixed on Torch who lay broken by the pillar he had struck. And then applause exploded out from the crowd, whistling and cheering that reverberated around the arena like thunder. Terrador gave a small smile, he didn't even need to ring the gong, and it wasn't like anyone would hear it anyway.

Igneous tried to bow, but his burns and armour made it awkward and painful, and the red all but toppled to the floor. Healers entered the arena battleground and gathered up Torch and Igneous to bring them to the infirmary. Igneous complained as they stripped the armour from him, moaning as his burns were touched.

Tirren whooped with joy, and hugged Savron in the excitement. The purple, also cheering, took the opportunity to squeeze her rump. His face then became closely acquainted with her fist.

Lyrith watched Torch get carried out of the arena with immense satisfaction.

"_Serves the bastard right."_ Lyr thought smugly. _"Just be glad I'm not the one dishing out the justice, Torch. These injuries would have been a pleasant back rub by comparison."_

Lyrith took his eyes off of Torch, smiling, and glanced around the arena. He's red eyes fell upon Torch's gang, and settled there. Wintra looked furious, and she seemed to be ranting about something to Thunder who only shook his head sadly, eyes closed. Most of the other members of Torch's gang seemed to share Wintra's opinion, though a good number only watched Torch with a a stupified gaze.

But as his eyes wandered over to Voltlyn, his smile faded. She stood on her hind paws, her forepaws clasped over her muzzle, eyes full of horror and fear. Her body visibly trembled, and Lyrith felt cold clench his heard as he realized why. Torch was not going to be pleased he had lost. No, he was going to be furious, and who better to take it out on than his sex slave?

_"I won't let him do this to you any longer."_ Lyrith promised silently, retuning his cold glare to Torch, who was almost out the arena door, carried on a stretcher. _"I will find out your secret, and one way or another, free you from him. Even if it kills me."_

**Characters created by: Dardarax.**

Savron's Gang (Savron, Lyrith, Tirren, Sleet, Typhous, Igneous, Zindy.)

Torch's gang (Torch, Wintra, Thunder, Voltlyn.)

Temple staff (Inferna.)

Orphans (Jaheel, Malicina, Little Lyr. :3 )

Well, now you've finally met Malicina. She doesn't really count as a new character, because she has been mentioned already in the story. She's a fairly important part of Lyrith's past, as you have probably guessed, though how important you'll have to see for yourself. :P

And Igneous won! Woohoo! Things are going well aren't they? Just hope nothing really bad happens, wouldn't want to break this streak of good fortune. ^^

Also, you guys rock (And not in the bad way. ;) ) 18 reviews for chapter 17! 18! You guys really made my day. Thanks all of you, it really means a lot to me. ^_^

Now then, on to chapter 19! Another really interesting chapter! Woo!


	19. Hope

Chapter 19. Hope

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, The Temple, Warfang, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below... Hm? What? Why are you still reading this? Are you expecting a joke? A dance? Some creature to appear and maul me? Well your not getting anything of the sort today. So you can just go down and read my chapter, got it?... Why are you still reading this? There's nothing amusing to be found here, nothing! Zip! Zut! Just read the darn chapter already!... Jeez, you just don't get the hint, do you? Since you obviously have no intention to stop reading this stupid disclaimer, I'll just leave. Goodbye, and enjoy the fricking fic already._

It was a warm and quiet day without a cloud in the sky. Flowers bloomed among the lush grass in the shady garden of the Temple. Voltlyn stood on her hind paws in front of a tripod, where a sheet of canvas was held in place for her to paint on. Several bottles of paint lay nearby, all within easy reach. The topaz dragoness held a brush daintily in one paw, and glanced around the tripod to examine the scene she was painting.

Two towering cheery trees reached up into the sky, pink flowers in full blossom along their branches. They framed a bed of roses carefully planted and groomed so that they formed the shape of a hawk in flight. In the distance the Temple's spires rose up, touching the sky. The sun peeked out behind towers like a shy child.

Voltlyn's brush strokes were casual, but precise, colours trailing behind the brush as it danced along the canvas. The lightning dragoness breathed in the sweet warm air as the scene started to unfold on the sheet. The blooming trees, the towering spires, the rising sun and the green glade. Her easy strokes belying the careful speed in which she painted.

Voltlyn reached out with her brush for some green paint, but frowned when she brought it up with nothing more than a smudge of colour on it's tip. She glanced into the bottle and sighed when she found it empty. Voltlyn glanced back at the scene longingly, so much of it still needed doing, and she didn't know if she would ever find such a scene again. She did her best to etch every detail into her mind, so she could continue it at another date, and then started packing away.

She started with the paints and tripod, letting the paint dry sufficiently before wrapping the canvas up and strapping it to her side. Once the painting was secure, and was positioned so it wouldn't impede her movements, she left the gardens at a trot.

Voltlyn took the long way through the Temple to her room meandering about and enjoying herself. She silently reveled in the wondrous day, free from classes for another week yet. The sun shone cheerfully through the stain glass windows into the Temple halls, creating pools of colour on the floor.

The sunlight caught the two horns that curled over her head toward each other, and they shone like a halo in the bright light. Students walked passed her, chatting jovially, enjoying the beautiful day. Nobody gave Voltlyn more than a passing glance as she wound through the crowds back to her rooms. She didn't mind, she never really craved much attention anyway.

She reached her room and unlocked the door. Her room was nearly barren, Voltlyn having sold off most of her paintings over the course of the break. She untied the canvas strapped to her side and checked to see if it had smudged. It hadn't. Relieved, Voltlyn placed it on one of the several tripods she had placed around her room, and then stored her paints away in a cupboard off to the side.

Voltlyn paused once she was done, trying to decide what she would do next with her free time. A grumpy growl from her stomach made up her mind, and she padded out of her room to get something to eat.

The kitchens were mostly empty, except for a couple of students scattered around the tables. Voltlyn picked up her meal, leftovers from breakfast that morning, and sat down at an empty table as far away from the other students as she could. Her plate was heaped with meat scraps. Turkey legs, chicken wings, and leftover ribs. It was more than was really necessary considering her appetite, and her recent diet had her putting on a few extra pounds, but Voltlyn didn't care. She had never really liked the stick thin style that the other dragonesses had adopted lately.

_"And it's not like I want to be drawing too much attention to myself."_ Voltlyn thought as she started eating._ "If I try and follow the latest fashion, Torch might come for me more oft..."_

"How have you been doing lately, Voltlyn?" A cheerful voice chirped, shattering Voltlyn's train of thought. Voltlyn jumped in surprise and turned to look at the speaker. A cheerful Danrah smiled down at Voltlyn, her expression sheepish for startling her. She padded up to her table, Vash not far behind her, and plopped down on the cushion beside Voltlyn giving the surprised dragoness a slightly apologetic nudge with one wing.

After a second of waiting for an answer, Danrah glanced over at Voltly, "Well? How about it?"

"Uh... Fine." Voltlyn murmured after a moment's pause. "How about you?"

"Great thanks!" Danrah beamed cheerfully. "How'd your exams go?"

"Okay I guess..." Voltlyn's whispered, looking away shyly. Danrah nodded and grinned.

"Thought as much, you're brilliant you know!"

"Um... Thanks." Voltlyn blushed, smiling slightly at the praise. Danrah smiled at this, and mentally cheered.

"So, what have you been doing lately?" The princess asked, once the flush had faded from Voltlyn's face.

"Not much." Voltlyn answered, her embarrassed smile slowly fading.

"Come on, surely you must be doing something!" Danrah exclaimed. "Anything, even if it's something small."

"Well," Voltlyn murmured, her confidence swelling up a bit. "I've been painting a little."

"Really!" Danrah asked, intrigued. "Are you any good?"

"Um... a little bit..."

"Can you show me?" Danrah inquired excitedly. "I would love to see your work!"

"Uh... I don't know..."

"Please?" The shadow dragoness begged, leaning forward and putting a paw on one of Voltlyn's. The lightning dragoness paused, wavering.

_"What should I do?"_ Voltlyn thought nervously, looking across at Danrah, who gazed over at Voltlyn eagerly. _"I don't want to disappoint her, she's one of the few who actually seems to notice or care about me. But... but she might laugh at me! And I don't know what I would do if she..."_

"Please." Danrah repeated, clasping Voltlyn's paw and holding her tightly.

"I... I suppose." Voltlyn murmured, glancing away from Danrah. Danrah beamed. Vash, who had sat silent throughout the entire conversation, stood up.

"I'll take your dishes to the washer. You two have a good time." The dream dragon scooped up Voltlyn's dishes, and balancing the plates carefully, left the table.

Danrah released Voltlyn's paw and stood up, grinning broadly. "Come on! I'm really excited to see your what you've done!"

Voltlyn got up off her cushions as well, and at Danrah's urging, lead the princess to her room. Danrah gasped when she entered Voltlyn's room, staring at the half dozen paintings that were placed around her room.

"These are all yours?" She whispered, awed. Voltlyn nodded, flushing a bit. The princess rushed over to the nearest one, a portrait of a cheetah, bow drawn and leveled at some target in the distance. But the cheetah's eyes were trained on the tip of her arrow, where a butterfly had perched.

"Wow." Danrah marveled, eyes fixed on the painting. "It's wonderful, it... It feels like I'm really there, like I can reach out and touch her fur..." Danrah's paw raised a bit, and then stopped.

"Thanks." Voltlyn said, her flush deepening, shifting her paws a bit, embarrassed. Danrah moved to a different painting as they went, Voltlyn's confidence grew bit by bit, as Danrah praised and complimented her work.

"And what's this?" Danrah asked, pointing to Voltlyn's half finished painting. Voltlyn moved up to it, smiling warmly.

"I'm not done it yet, but it's going to be a portrait of a spot in The Hawk's Glade. It's so lovely this time of year, that I felt I should paint it."

"It's wonderful." Danrah nodded, smiling brightly up at Voltlyn. The smile faded after a moment, and Danrah looked away from Voltlyn. "Could I ask you a question?"

"Um... Sure." Voltlyn said, puzzled.

"Could you... Couldyouteachmehowtopaint!" Danrah asked in a rush. Voltlyn started at her incredulously for a moment. She opened her muzzle to speak, but nothing came out.

"Please?" Danrah pleaded. "I've always wanted to learn, and you're such a good painter."

"I... I guess so..." Voltlyn stammered, and Danrah embraced Voltlyn, smiling widely.

"Oh Thank you! I'll do my best to learn, I promise!" The shadow dragoness released Voltlyn and grinned up at her. Voltlyn smiled back sheepishly.

"So, could we start now?" Danrah asked, excitedly.

"Sure." Voltlyn answered, nodding. "Let's just get the paints, and the canvas, and and we can go down to the gardens."

The two split up, and started collecting the supplies they would need to paint down in the gardens. Danrah had just packed away a set of bright paints into a sack, when she caught sight of the music box in the corner of the room.

"Hey, is that what I think it is!" The black dragoness asked, putting the bag down and stepping towards the small box. Voltlyn looked up from rolling up some canvas, and inhaled sharply.

"Wait! Don't! It's a delicate..."

"Don't worry, I have one back home, I'll be careful." Danrah called back, smiling reassuringly. "It's just I didn't know you had one, or that anyone other student here had them for that matter. They're very, very rare. Where did yo get it?"

"My... My dad found it and fixed it up for me." Voltlyn admitted, stepping up beside Danrah, ready to jump in if something went wrong. Danrah nodded.

"I see, he must have been an amazing dragon to be able to do that."

"He was." Voltlyn agreed, wistfully. "He could fix anything."

"What kind of music crystals do you have?" Danrah asked, opening up the drawer below the box, revealing the crystals within. Voltlyn resisted the urge to usher Danrah away from the box, and watched as she picked out one of the six music crystals.

"Borston, Vagriss, Allgra... You have a decent selection here. Six. I have thirteen. These crystals are hard to come by nowadays."

"Yes, they are." Voltlyn murmured, fidgeting from paw to paw anxiously.

"Do you mind if I play one?" Danrah inquired, picking out one crystal at random.

"I suppose..."

Danrah placed the crystal into the slot, and wound up the winch a few times. She stepped back and the music started to play. It was a lively, jovial tune with lots of brass and a fast staccato drumbeat that filled the air with excitement and festivity.

"Oh! I love this song!" Danrah exclaimed, excitedly. She turned and took one of Voltlyn's paws in her own, and looked right into her eyes. "Let's dance!"

"Um..." Voltlyn hesitated, unsure.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Danrah pulled Voltlyn into the middle of the cleared space, and then released her. The shadow dragoness started dancing a fast, silly jig, skipping and twirling about, laughing. Voltlyn shuffled around a bit, blushing lightly as she moved about nervously. Yet as the music played on, and Danrah whirled about around her, Voltlyn's movements became less hesitant, and more fluid.

The music poured around her, blocking out everything but the beat, rhythm and tone. The topaz dragoness closed her eyes and smiled as it filled her. She leapt, spun and moved across the dance floor, movements in time with the beat. Her paws glided across the floor in an intricate web of steps.

Voltlyn laughed as she moved, rearing up, spinning, and leaping to the side. There was only the music, only the movement and excitement. There was no Temple, no princess. No classes, or work. No gambling rigs or debts, and no prince who forced himself on her. There was only the thrill of the dance, the pounding beat of the drums, and the blaring of horns.

And then it slowed to a stop. Voltlyn's dance came to an end with a flourishing bow to an invisible audience. She opened her eyes and found Danrah standing off to the side, her forepaws clasped to her muzzle, tears trickling down her cheeks. Voltlyn froze, her nervousness returning as she remembered where she was, and what she had been doing.

"Wha...? What is it?" Voltlyn asked, her anxiousness returning.

"That was..." Danrah sniffed, and lowered her paws to wipe at her tearing eyes. "That was amazing! I've never seen anything like it."

"Really?" Voltlyn asked, her surprise banishing her nervousness.

"Yes." Danrah nodded, smiling shyly. "To be honest I'm a bit jealous. You're paintings could be featured in the Temple art gallery, and your dancing rivals that of any preformer i've ever seen. I **wish** I could do half of the stuff you can do."

"Th... Thanks." Voltlyn whispered, flushing brightly.

"You are very welcome." Danrah smiled. "Now how about those painting lessons?"

Voltlyn grinned at her eager expression, and together they moved out of the room, and down to the gardens.

"Oh this is perfect!" Voltlyn exclaimed, pausing by the Temple entrance and looking at the small garden to her left. A single tree rose up in the middle of a bed of blue flowers. The limbs of the tree swayed in the soft breeze.

"It's simple, yet beautiful! Perfect to start out with!" Voltlyn smiled, and Danrah nodded. They unstrapped their bags and started unpacking.

Voltlyn had just taken out a tripod and was setting up when she stopped and gasped. Danrah started and looked over to her.

"What is it?"

"I forgot the thick brushes!" Voltlyn cried, slapping a paw to her forehead. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"Don't worry!" Danrah exclaimed, rushing over to Voltlyn to calm her down. "Anybody could have made that mistake!"

Voltlyn sighed and shook her head, before smiling brightly. "I'll go up and get them. Keep setting up, I'll be right back!" Voltlyn turned and rushed back into the Temple, leaving Danrah behind. The black princess smiled and shook her head. Then she turned and finished setting up the tripods and paints.

Voltlyn skipped through the Temple, humming a cheery tune. Her heart was light with a joy she hadn't felt in years. Before she had always been content to live separate from others her age. But now with someone suddenly paying attention to her, and not treating her like an object, everything seemed so much... better.

"Is this what it's like to have friends?" Voltlyn wondered as she turned out of the great hall and down a series of corridors. "She's so nice! Why did I ever avoid her?"

"There you are!" A harsh voice hissed from behind Voltlyn. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Voltlyn stopped cold, hackles raising in alarm as a shiver ran down her spine. She turned slowly, eyes wide in terror. Torch limped towards her, his golden eyes burning. His muscular red body was covered in bandages, and a cast was wrapped around one hind leg, his wings tied to his back. His cold gaze bored into her, and roamed over her body to her face. Voltlyn shivered again, and took a step back.

"M... Master Torch. You're out of the infirmary. How... How are you feeling?"

Torch stepped up to his servant, and glared down at her. Voltlyn let out a yelp of surprise as he reached forward with a paw, and grabbed her by a horn, dragging her closer to him.

"You are coming with me... **Now**." He hissed into her ear frill. He let her go and turned away to stalk down a side passage.

Voltlyn stared after him, horror and fear filling her. She took a hesitant step forward, suddenly unsure. Then she followed him down the hall, her body shaking with terror as she went.

Down in the gardens, Danrah finished setting up the painting supplies, and sat down to wait. The minutes ticked on and Danrah started restlessly moving about the garden, picking flowers and rearranging the paints. But after the minutes dragged on into hours, Danrah finally gave up. Sighing, she moved over to the painting supplies, and despondently packed it away. Once it was all stored in the bags again, she slowly padded back into the Temple, head hanging in defeat.

* * *

"... And so I threw the girdle into the air, and all of the Wart fairies pounced on it, shrieking 'I'm the rightful ruler of the daisy toad!' They all started fighting over it, hitting each other with their tiny fists. While they were distracted, Igneous and I," Savron patted Igneous on the back, smiling. "made our escape, fighting out of the Wart fairy palace, and through their army of cannibal tulips. And that's why there are no willow trees within six and a half miles of the Temple."

Savron finished his story, and settled down on his cushion, a content smile on his face. Tirren, Sleet, Typhous and Lyrith all stared at Savron, their muzzles hanging open incredulously. After a few seconds, Zindy burst into a fit of snickers, the little yellow nearly keeling over as she tried to contain her laughter. She was followed soon after by Lyrith, whose deep chuckles echoed around the room, his scarred face screwed up in hopeless amusement.

"You can't be serious." Tirren said finally, shaking her head.

"True. Story." Savron swore, raising a paw up over his head, and then slamming it down on the table.

"But... But you can't... CANNIBAL TULIPS!" Tirren shouted, holding her paws out in utter disbelief. Lyrith held his face in his paws, his mirth redoubled. Typhous and Sleet finally joined in too, holding their sides with uncontrollable laughter.

"ThatwasanamazingstorySav! Ialwayswonderedwhy therewerenowillowtrees insuchaswampyarea! NowIknow!" Zindy laughed cheerfully, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"But Zindy! It was all made up!" Tirren exclaimed, aghast. "Tell them Igneous! It was all a lie!" Tirren turned to Igneous for support. The big red smiled knowingly, and made a noncommittal gesture. Tirren stared at Igneous in shock. Savron laughed at her face, pointing.

"I **told** you! I told you it was true!"

Tirren sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. I'll tell the next story, and it will be a true story."

The group of seven dragons sat comfortably in a sitting room, tucked away in the Temple halls. It was of decent size, neither cramped, nor spacious. Multiple cushions and mattresses for the dragons to relax on were placed around the room, along with a couple wooden tables. A single small, open window let sunlight and fresh air into the room.

Tirren settled into a more comfortable position, and cleared her throat meaningfully.

"Alright, this is a story from when I was younger, and my brother was first starting to teach me how to fight. He started off showing me where to hit and how to evade attacks. I got the hang of it quite quickly, and started experimenting..."

Lyrith listened intently as Tirren's story unfolded, chuckling along with the others as she told it. It felt oddly comforting to the white, sitting there and listening to his friends talk about funny events in their past, openly sharing secrets and laughing at their own mistakes. It made him feel welcome, like he belonged. Like he wasn't an orphaned street urchin, but instead part of this group of nobles and wealthy drakes with hardly a care in the world. And while their happy childhoods sent the occasional spike of jealousy through him, he listened on eagerly, losing himself in their tales.

"... And the pie soared through the air, and landed square on my brother's face, knocking him over into the puddle of gravy!" Tirren finished, trying and failing not to laugh at the memory. Everyone in the room joined in, and Savron wiped tears of merriment from his eyes.

"Okay, I admit, that was a pretty good one."

The laughter settled down, and Tirren sighed, before suddenly smiling.

"Well, I think it's Lyrith's turn to tell a story. He's the only one here who hasn't yet."

The colourless dragon froze at the suggestion and the others gave a chorus of agreement. Lyr shook his head.

"I don't have any good stories, it would be a waste of time."

"Oh come on Lyr, we've all told you stories, good and bad. It's your turn." Typhous piped in and the others all nodded. Lyrith sighed, shifted over in his seat, and looked out towards the window. He was silent for a while, eyes distant as he looked back for a story to tell. The others waited impatiently for Lyr to think of something, fidgeting on their seats. Savron was just about to urge him on, when Lyr started to speak.

"When I was young, I was obsessed with stories of heroes, and noble actions and deeds, especially ones involving your parents, Savron. I went out of my way to find as many as I could, and memorized them. But out of all the stories I found, one in particular struck a cord in me. I've only ever heard it told once, and it was by an old friend of mine. According to her, it's true, and I believe her."

"What's the story?" Sleet asked curiously. Lyrith glared over at him.

"If you be quiet I'll tell you!"

Sleet's muzzle snapped shut, and Lyr took a deep breath.

"Many many years back in a small town to the north, an old dragon carpenter lived. He was a grizzled brown earth dragon, with a bad limp from when he fell off a roof while repairing some shingles. No one would hire him because his legs were unreliable while working, and there was a younger carpenter who could work for longer, and cheaper. Few would speak with him, as his temper was short and hot. The only one close to him was his mate, who was too ill with a fever to work. His two sons had left home years ago, to live their own lives in other villages, leaving their parents destitute and alone. Their home was in disarray; most of their belongings had been sold to pay their expenses."

Lyrith paused and took a sip of water from a nearby bowl. The others watched him curiously, waiting for him to continue.

"One day the town came under attack by a raiding party of Apes, who swept in from the blasted lands into their village. The town had only a small militia, and the Ape force struck into the village. The militia fought desperately against the onslaught, but were quickly overwhelmed. The villagers who had joined the fray broke away and fled. The carpenter and his mate had been restocking supplies in the market place when the attack came, and fought bravely even when the lines broke against the Ape hoard. He held off the attack in a bottleneck alley in which many of the villagers, including his mate had taken refuge. Those he defended watched in awe as he held his ground, beating back the force of Apes. The carpenter fought against overwhelming odds, clawing and blasting left and right at the Apes."

Lyrith paused for breath, and rolled his head around to get the kinks out of his neck.

"As he fought, his mate begged the villagers to help him, to fight back, but they refused, too frightened to help. Frustrated she moved out to help him, only to see an archer taking aim. She raced forward, and stepped between her mate and the archer, taking the arrow in his place. She fell, crying out in pain as it pierced her side. The carpenter, still in the midst of fighting, took position in front of her, and redoubled his efforts, tears streaming down his cheeks. He struck Apes down left and right. Six, a dozen, two dozen he slew, and step by step the old dragon forced the Apes back. But in his furious frenzy, an Ape managed to sneak past him, and stabbed him through the chest with its spear."

Lyrith's small crowd inhaled sharply, Zindy putting her paws to her muzzle in horror.

"With the old dragon fallen, the Apes rushed down the alley, whooping as they closed in on their prey. But rather than finding cowering and whimpering townsfolk, they ran straight into a group of armed villagers. Inspired by the sight of the old carpenter fending off the horde, the villagers butchered the coming attack force, and carved their way out of the alley and into the heart of the town. As they fought, more and more villagers joined them, given hope by the sight of townsfolk slaughtering the Ape army. By the time the reinforcements from the king arrived, the Apes had retreated, a full third of their numbers destroyed by the villagers."

Lyrith took a long drink from his bowl, and settled back, looking around at his audience.

"What happened to the carpenter and his mate?" Zindy asked in a whisper.

"They both died in the alley." Lyrith answered shaking his head.

"That's so sad." Zindy sighed, head hanging. The others nodded in agreement.

"After the attack, the town started the construction of a wall, to protect them from future attacks. They named the wall after the dragon for his bravery. This is my favourite story, because it shows you that no matter how small you are, no matter how insignificant you may be, you can still be a hero."

Lyrith fell silent once more, and the others sat, contemplating the story they had just heard.

"That was an interesting story, Lyrith." Tirren said finally. "What was his name, by the way?"

"Wourfaang." Lyrith answered, his muzzle cracking a small smile.

Tirren frowned, and opened her muzzle to ask another question, but the sound of the noon bells cut her off.

"Lunch!" Savron cried, getting up and moving over to the door. The others quickly followed the purple out the door, all questions forgotten about behind the growling of stomachs.

"I'll catch up with you guys!" Lyrith called, starting down the hall, opposite to where the others were going. "I need to get something, I'll meet you down at the kitchens."

"Alright, see you soon!" Savron called back after Lyr as they turned down a different hall. Lyrith nodded, and then followed the corridor back to his Albino wandered through the corridors, examining the paintings and tapestries that lined the walls. He walked for a long time, becoming so engrossed by the many amazing sights that when he left his trance, he realized he had no idea where he was.

"What the...?" He swore, looking around. The halls all around him were unfamiliar, and completely devoid of life. "Shit! Must have taken a wrong turn or two." Lyr cursed. He turned to go back the way he had come, and then he paused. This was a whole new area of the Temple he had never explored before, and judging from the layers of dust on the ground and statues, nobody had for a while. Turing back he slowly made his way down the new hall, dusting off the occasional statue or painting to get a better look.

He was eyeing a statue of a canine warrior, when an odd noise caught his attention, a voice only just audible in the dead silence of the hall. Frowning he followed it, hoping to find out who else was down here, and maybe get some directions back to the kitchens. It lead him to a thick wooden door, and curiously, Lyr put his ear frill up against the door.

"... I won't be humiliated in such a fashion again!" A male dragon's voice growled from behind the door, a low whimpering sound faintly heard below the dragon's pacing and growling. "I am sick and tired of Igneous taking all of the glory! I should be the one to... Would you stop that crying! Get up, I'm not finished with you yet."

"I'm... I'm sorry." A quavering female voice sniffed. Lyrith froze at the sound of the voices, he knew who these two dragons were. Torch and Voltlyn, he could recognize them anywhere. Rage swelled up in Lyr's chest, a seething black storm of fury that boiled his blood.

"That's better." Torch said, his voice sneering. "Now get over here."

There was a shuffling sound as Voltlyn moved over to Torch, and a grunt as the male shifted over.

"Well? Get started!" Torch demanded after a short silence.

There was a soft sob from Voltlyn,, and a snarl from Torch. There was a pause, and then a soft sigh from the prince.

"Good, now I... Have a task for you." Torch moaned, taking deep breaths.

"Yesh mashter Torch." Voltlyn mumbled, her voice muffled.

"No talking." Torch grunted. "Now as I was... Saying. There is something I need you to do. You know that... Sculpture Spyro is always..." Torch gasped suddenly, and his breathing accelerated. "Bragging about?" He continued after a moment, panting.

"Yesh."

"HEY! Did I say you could stop!" Torch snarled. The outburst was followed by another short pause.

"There we go." He purred, and resumed his speech. "Now I want you to steal it, and once Spyro is good and riled, plant it..." Torch groaned, and after a long moment, let out a contented sight. Voltlyn gave a choking sob. "Plant it in Igneous's room." Torch finished, panting. "I'll point the blame to him, and once they find it there, they'll expel him for sure! His parents might even be so ashamed that they'll leave the Temple with him!"

"But... But what if they catch me!" Voltlyn whimpered. "I could be expelled and..."

Lyrith flinched as a loud smack cut her short, and she yelped in pain.

"You **wont** get caught." Torch growled, furious. "And if you do, then you **will** take the fall. If you so much as mention my name in passing, then expulsion would be the least of your worries."

"Y... Yes master Torch." Voltlyn sobbed. There was a shuffling sound and Torch grunted.

"Now clean yourself up, I must be going. I have important duties to attend to, after all, **I** am a prince."

Lyrith started as he abruptly realized that Torch was getting up, and that he was still sitting in front of the door. Doing his best to keep quiet, Lyr shot down the corridor, bounding as far down the hall as he could. When the sound of the door creaking open reached him, Lyr suddenly turned around and started casually walking back the way he had just come.

Torch left the room, and looked around. He froze as his eyes fell on Lyrith, and then he relaxed. The white was coming towards him, there was no way he could have heard what he had been doing or saying. Torch flicked the door closed as Lyrith neared, and limped down the hall towards Lyrith.

"Morning, Candlestick." Lyrith sneered, resisting the urge to tear the red limb from limb as he passed.

"Technically it's noon, liz... Lyrith." Torch glowered, biting back all of the hateful words he had to say. Lyrith grinned, amused at the obvious pain Torch was in, being bound by his bargain.

"I guess you're right. Which way is the kitchens? I'm kind of lost."

"That way." Torch prompted, eyes narrowing slyly, and pointed down the hall Lyrith had originally come from. "Now if you excuse me, my **friends** are waiting for me." Torch started down the hall, casting the occasional glance back at Lyrith.

Lyr followed the hall Torch had gestured to, and once he was sure Torch was gone, turned back and trotted over to the room Torch had just been in. He entered and glanced around.

It was a cramped, but fairly empty room. A single table stood in one corner of the room, and the only light came from a single torch, as not one window was present to allow light into the chamber. Voltlyn lay off to one side of the room, curled up into a ball, weeping. Her entire body was battered and bloody. Smears of white goo was splattered all over her face and rear, and the tears that trickled down her face left tracks through the mess of blood and gunk.

She flinched and looked up when Lyrith entered the room, expression filled with fear. Her eyes widened in horror when she realized who it really was. The violated Topaz dragoness shrank back away from the white, who stared down at her sadly, keeping his distance.

"You..." She whispered, terrified.

"Are you alright?" Lyrith asked, and then snorted. "Stupid question. Especially after what he put you through."

Voltlyn sniffed, and rubbed her tears away. Lyrith searched her face, seeing the flourishing bruise starting to swell up across her features.

"Why are you letting him do this to you?" The Albino asked, sitting down and closing the door.

"That's none of your business." Voltlyn snapped, a surge of irritation flooding up into her at being discovered like this.

"You don't like this, do you?" Lyr inquired, frowning at her frustration. Voltlyn's anger suddenly faltered.

"Well... no, of course not. I **hate** it... And I hate **him**!" She growled, showing her pearly white fangs.

"Then why! Why do you insist on keeping quiet about this! About him!" Lyrith demanded, feeling frustration of his own start to build up in his gut.

"Why do you care!" Voltlyn countered angrily, shakily getting to her paws. "Why do **you** care why **I** do things? You don't know me! You don't know what I've been going through! Don't pretend you do!"

"Maybe because I don't think anyone deserves to suffer like this!" Lyrith growled, getting to his paws furiously. "Maybe because I knew somebody who went through something like this! I'm trying to help you, I'm not your enemy!"

"You can't help me." Voltlyn sighed, her anger leaving her as suddenly as it had come. She sat down, and looked at the floor. "Nobody can."

"Tell me. There has to be a way..."

"NO!" Voltlyn hissed, backing away from Lyrith. "If I tell you, then you'll get dragged into it too! Now if you would please..."

"I know what Torch wants you to do." Lyrith cut in. Voltlyn's tirade stopped dead, and she looked up at Lyrith fearfully. The Albino looked down at her, his expression serious.

"You... You can't tell." Voltlyn whispered, panicked. "You can't tell anybody. You can't..."

"Why not?" Lyirth asked, voice hard. "I don't know you, but I do know Igneous. He's my **friend**, and I won't let him get framed for anything when I know the truth."

"But... But you don't understand!" Voltlyn cried, stepping towards Lyrith.

"Then explain it too me!" Lyrith growled, also taking a step froward. Voltlyn flinched back, her bloody face twisting in fear and panic.

"I... I can't!" She exclaimed, her breathing accelerating, eyes wide.

"If you wont tell me, than I have no reason not to report this to the Temple staff. Especially since you so stubbornly refuse my help." Lyrith turned and moved to open the door. Voltlyn broke.

"He has my mother!" She wept, grabbing Lyr's tail desperately. Lyrith stopped, and looked back at her, shocked. Voltlyn stood, tears running down her face, small sobs racking her frame. Lyrith shut the door and turned to her, his features softening. Finally unable to hold herself together, Voltlyn crumpled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Lyrith moved up to her, and awkwardly draped a wing over her.

"He... Has her?" Lyr asked, confused.

Voltlyn sniffed, and tried to force her sobs down. She nodded, and Lyrith waited for her to recover.

"Y... you see..." Voltlyn sniffed, blinking her tears away. "M... Mom and I owe a huge debt to Charah and her family..."

Lyrith frowned. "I thought your debt was from gambling?" He murmured under his breath.

Voltlyn blinked in surprise and looked over at Lyr quizzically. "How did you know that?"

Lyr's muzzle snapped shut as he realized he had spoken aloud. "Uh... No reason."

Voltlyn's ocean blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. She stared at Lyr unmoving, her jaw set stubbornly. The colourless dragon sighed.

"Alright, I suppose it's only fair, you're sharing personal information with me." Lyrith took a deep breath and then continued on hesitantly. "I snuck into the third library floor and took a look at your personal files."

Voltlyn blushed at the revelation. "Oh."

Lyrith nodded. "I hoped I could figure out a way to help you by learning more about you. You weren't very forthcoming, so I resorted to breaking some rules."

Voltlyn nodded curtly, accepting the unspoken apology.

"Well, you're right, we do owe a debt to the gambling rigs. Mom was a bad gambler, and when dad died, we were forced into hard labour to pay the debts off. But it wasn't a month later that Charah, probably seeing an opportunity to make some extra money, bought out all of the gambling rigs in Warfang. This meant she bought out our debt too."

Voltlyn paused, taking a deep breath to steady herself, before she plunged onwards.

"Our debt was so large, that rather than wait for us to pay it off, she brought us in as her house servants so we could work off the debt."

Lyrith nodded, seeing how that would make sense.

"At first, it was our lucky break. The work paid well, and was way easier than what we had been doing before. But Charah is a cruel, cunning bitch, and after buying out all of the rigs, she started paying half of her servant's pay in gambling tokens."

Lyrith flinched, and Voltlyn continued on, her voice starting to rise angrily, finally letting the torrent of emotions run free.

"But instead of cashing them in, Mom starts using them, hoping to win big so we could get out of our debt. 'Just watch' she would say, 'today we'll get the jackpot, and we'll be scott-free!'" Voltlyn snorted. "So Mom goes off and spent half of our pay gambling in **Charah's** rigs, while I worked my ass off to break us free. I worked and worked until Charah became so impressed with me, she made her precious baby Torch's personal servant."

Voltyn paused, collecting her thoughts, and letting the fires of her fury simmer down to coals.

"It wasn't so bad. He was bossy and rude, and worked me half to death everyday just to see me squirm, but it wasn't anything new to me. I was used to working hard, and being degraded. But then..."

Voltlyn stopped, tears starting to bead her eyes again. Lyr drew her closer, his jaw clenching in fury, knowing what was coming next.

"Torch snuck out one night to visit his date for a private meeting. He brought me along so I could warn them if anyone was coming. I don't know what happened, but Torch left there furious. I didn't... I didn't think... I followed him to a tool shed where he..." Voltlyn couldn't go on, and broke down into a fresh wave of sobs.

"He forced himself on you." Lyr finished for her. Voltlyn nodded, hiccuping, eyes red with tears.

"I will never... Can never forget what he... what he did to me then..." Voltlyn wept, her body shaking up against Lyrith, her claws clenching and unclenching as she spoke.

"How he... how he used me again and again... how he made me do things for him... the feel of him on top of me... of him in me!" Voltlyn choked and quivered beside Lyrith, whimpering in horror. Lyrith held her tight, his body tense as he ground his fangs in rage.

"He said... He said if I told anyone, he would call in our debts, that he would ruin us. Torch is Charah's little pet. If Torch so much as pouts she'll tear her estates apart looking for something to make him happy! I've seen her fire servants because Torch didn't like the aftertaste of his noon snack! Calling in the debts and throwing mom in her dungeons because Torch asked her too would be **nothing** to her!"

Voltlyn's sobbing slowed, and she looked up at Lyrith tearfully.

"I'd have to leave the Temple, and whore myself out to pay the bail to get mom freed. Nobody would hire someone who's on Charah's bad side. **Nobody**."

"And now he uses you because he knows he can get away with it." Lyrith sighed, shaking his head sadly. Voltlyn nodded.

"It wouldn't even matter if I did reveal it." Voltlyn mumbled, defeated. "Like I said, he's Charah's pet. He's rich enough that he could buy out the court, and who would believe a poor, indebted wretch over a prince anyway!"

Lyr sat in silence as Voltlyn finished, bursting into another fresh bout of tears.

_"No wonder she's so resigned."_ Lyrith cursed silently, closing his eyes in frustration. _"The whole situation seems utterly hopeless. She owes a huge debt to one of the most ruthless nobles in the Dragon realms, and combined with Torch's lineage, what hope could anyone have of breaking her free? I certainly can't do anything to help her..."_

Voltlyn sniffled into Lyrith's shoulder, her bruised and battered body still bearing the remnants of Torch's brutal raping.

A thought emerged in Lyrith's mind, and he focused on it, letting the knowledge of Voltlyn's situation replay in his mind. The thought slowly took form, and Lyrith smiled, his fangs flashing in the light of the torch.

"I think I know a way to get you out of this mess." Lyrith whispered. Voltlyn sniffed loudly and blinked.

"What?" She asked, confused. Lyr looked down at her, his red eyes gleaming with triumph.

"I know what to do. But you will have to admit to everything."

Voltlyn shook her head firmly. "I don't believe you." She muttered, eyes downcast. "It's hopeless. What could **you** possibly do to help **me**?"

"Not me." Lyrith insisted, using a claw to raise Voltlyn's head so she looked at him squarely in the eye. "**I** couldn't do anything to help you."

"Then who?" Voltlyn asked, a faint spark of hope echoing in her voice.

Lyrith grinned. "Voltlyn, where do we live?" He paused for a moment, and then continued before she could respond.

"We live in the Dragon Temple, home of the **Guardians**."

* * *

"Damn! Confound these utensils! My claws simply cannot grasp them properly!" Cyril cursed, trying and failing for the fourth time to pick up the fork that Hunter had placed before him. The cheetah chuckled and took the fork back.

"How in the ancestor's name can you possibly use those to eat!" Cyril demanded, grabbing his steak with his claws and digging his fangs into it. Hunter laughed and sliced a chunk off his slab of ham with his knife. He shook his head, not bothering to answer.

The Temple staff all sat in a large room adjacent to the council hall. The room was dominated by a long table, where the staff all sat, picking at the last of their noon meal apart, and discussing small matters of little importance. Across from Cyril and Hunter, Inferna sat with Deran, snickering at Cyril's frustrated expression.

The Ice Guardian glared over at her, glowering. "And what, pray tell, is so funny?" He hissed eyes narrowing. Inferna giggled.

"Oh nothing. I just find it amusing that a dragon of your **breeding** can hold a quill, but not a knife!"

Snarling, Cyril snatched the knife out of Hunter's hand, and fumbled with it, trying to get a proper grip. Cyril moved to cut his steak with it, but it slipped out of his talons, clattering down on his platter. Cursing, he tried again, with similar results. The staff watching burst into laughter at Cyril's attempts.

"Give it up, Cyril." Spyro chuckled, smiling broadly. "You're not as agile as you used to be."

Cyril huffed, and tossed the knife down on the table, exasperated. Hunter reclaimed his knife, smirking.

The humorous chatter was broken as a servant entered hurriedly. The feline bowed deeply to the Temple staff.

"There are two students seeking an audience with you."

"We're busy." Cyril grumbled, taking a bite out of his steak.

"What do they want?" Inferna asked, quizzically.

"I'm not sure, but the Albino says it's urgent." The feline pursed his lips worriedly. "The other one is in pretty rough shape, your honours." He added. The Guardians looked at each other, concerned, even Cyril put down his steak, frowning.

"Let them in." Cynder called from the other side of the room. The feline bowed and left the chamber. He returned a moment later with Lyrith in tow. The white nodded to the Guardians, and the members of staff.

"Well! Where's the other one?" Cadence grumbled irritably. Lyrith frowned and turned back to the door.

"Come on, they can **help** you."

A long moment passed, nothing happening, Lyrith standing in front of the door impatiently. Then, the door creaked open a little wider, and Voltlyn stepped through into the chamber nervously. The blood had dried into dark streaks over her body. The bruises could be faintly seen under the blood and white crud which encrusted her body.

The entire staff gasped, taking in a sharp breath of alarm.

"What happened!" Inferna cried, starting to her paws and racing over to Voltlyn, horrified, Aquina and several others hard on her tail. They surrounded Voltlyn protectively, and Aquina started looking Voltlyn over, concerned.

"Torch raped her." Lyrith answered, scowling. Everyone stopped moving, and stared at Lyrith in shock and horror.

"Are... Are you certain of this?" Cynder asked anxiously, her jaw muscles twitching in building rage. Lyrith nodded.

"I've known about it for a while now." The Albino admitted.

"Then why haven't you told anyone about this up to this point!" Cyril demanded furioulsy.

"Because before now she would never have admitted to it!" Lyrith spat.

"Well she has been raped, and rather recently too." Aquina announced, picking some of the white away, grimacing in disgust. "And if the injuries are anything to judge by, it was **far** from a gentle experience."

"Is it true?" Inferna asked, concerned, edging closer to Voltlyn, her eyes wide with horrified anger. "Did Torch really do this to you?"

Voltlyn hesitated, fear enveloping her. She glanced over at Lyrith to reassure herself, and then nodded, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"Oh, dear. I'm so sorry." Ember whispered, embracing Voltlyn. The topaz dragoness whimpered tearfully, but hugged back, stifling her tears. Terrador looked over at the servant, his eyes hard.

"Go and bring Torch here, I want to have some words with him."

The servant nodded and left. Flame stood up, his expression grim as he strapped his helmet on.

"I will accompany him." The armoured red grunted, and stomped out of the room without another word.

Ember broke the embrace at Aquina's urging, and stepped aside. The blue water dragoness sprayed a small shower of water over Voltlyn, who flinched at the action, before relaxing in relief. The water washed the filth away from her body, cleansing her of the blood and the other gunk that clung to her. The wounds and bruises faded slowly as the healing water trickled over her, closing the cuts and bite marks.

Voltlyn smiled gratefully up at Aquina once she was clean again. "Thanks." She murmured.

"Anytime." Aquina answered, returning the smile.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Cynder asked, gently, her emerald eyes belying the fury boiling beneath her sad tones. Voltlyn sniffed.

"Because... Because he told me that if I told anyone he would call in all my family's debts, and ruin our lives." Voltlyn replied in a whisper.

"Ah yes. IfIremembercorrectly, yourmotheroweda substantial sum of money to the Warfang gambling rigs." Volteer cut in, and Voltlyn nodded.

"Charah bought our debts, so he's using... was using it to keep me from reporting him."

"I see." Volteer murmured, pursing his muzzle thoughtfully.

"How could I have misjudged him so!" Inferna muttered furiously, bashing her paw against a wall.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Inferna." Deran murmured, holding her close. The Guardian of Flame shook her head, but did not argue.

Lyrith watched the scene, feeling a mixture of relief and pity swelling up inside of him.

_"It's good to see everyone supporting her."_ He thought, smiling sadly. _"Hopefully now she can start to recover from what that bastard did to her."_

Cyril moved over to the other Guardians, who were offering their sympathy to Voltlym, and cleared his throat.

"If what she says is true, and Torch really is holding her family hostage using their debts, we will need to do something about it."

"Surely that is not necessary!" Cadence exclaimed. "Once Charah realizes what her son has done, she wouldn't..."

"Charah adores Torch." Cynder growled, glancing over at the one eyed wind dragon. "He could gouge out her eyes and she would still forgive him."

"Not to mention she's involved in less than legal pursuits." Inferna sighed looking over at Cadence. "She is noble in title only."

Cadence nodded curtly, and backed down.

"If that is the case, we will have to go and buy out the debts." Spyro muttered, looking around. "Her mother can work here to pay it off."

"IwillgoanddealwithCharah!" Volteer proclaimed, slamming a paw down on the table. "Noonehasdefeated meinbarteringyet! Hermotherwillbefree beforetheweekisout! Ipromise! Guaranteeitinfact!"

The staff nodded in consensus, and Lyrith followed suit.

_"Exactly what I was thinking."_ He mused, satisfied

"Thank you." Voltlyn whispered, blinking tears of gratitude from her eyes.

"Think nothing of it, dear." Ember murmured, sitting down beside Voltlyn and smiling sweetly down at her.

Lyrith moved over to Voltlyn, smiling warmly. "See? I told you it would all work out."

Voltlyn smiled back. "You're right. Th... Thank you. You came and helped me, even when I was being stubborn and... Well I was so scared that I couldn't..."

Lyrith stepped up to Voltlyn and put a claw to her muzzle, silencing her.

"You're welcome." He murmured, grinning at her embarrassed fidgeting. Voltlyn smiled shyly and nodded, ceasing her nervous chattering.

The doors of the chamber burst open, and Flame marched back in, the servant along side him. Behind the, Torch was escorted in, surrounded on all sides by armed guards. A crowd of students and spectators gathered at the entrance.

"I demand to know the meaning of this!" Torch shouted, glaring around him. "You have no right to drag me away from my room, and..."

"BE SILENT!" Terrador bellowed over Torch's rant, cutting him off. "You have no right to make demands here, Torch, son of Charah. You have been accused of rape, and sufficient evidence had been provided to incriminate you."

The crowd gasped.

"WHAT!" Torch exclaimed, shocked. "Who told you these lies! They should be flogged for uttering such false..." His tirade faltered as his gaze came to rest upon the figures of Lyrith and Voltlyn. His eyes widened, pupils narrowing to slits. "You." He hissed.

Lyrith sneered at Torch's expression, and he poked his tongue out defiantly. Beside him, Voltlyn cowered behind Ember, staring at Torch terrified.

"You dare spread these... these lies! I would never commit such an atrocious act! Wait until my parents hear of this! They will never stand for such accusa..."

"They will not hear of it, until we have your hostage in our custody." Inferna snarled, stomping over to Torch and glaring down at him. "Only then will they know of what you've done."

The guards moved closer to Torch, and he glanced around, starting to panic, his golden clad body twitching nervously.

"NO! I never raped her!" Torch shouted, gesturing over to Voltlyn desperately. "I couldn't have! I was in my rooms all morning recovering! How could I have..."

Cynder grinned triumphantly. "I don't recall anyone saying it was her you molested, Torch."

Torch froze, and the guards descended upon him, grabbing Torch and shackling him. Torch managed to struggle free, and turned to one of the windows, hoping to escape. Flame's tail intercepted him as he bolted, catching Torch across the face stunning him. The guards finished shackling the red prince, and dragged him off to the cellar, where they would hold him until Voltlyn's mother was safe.

The crowd watched in shocked silence as Torch was dragged off. Voltlyn sighed in relief once Torch was out of sight, though her quivering and shacking refused to abate. Lyrith sidled over to her, and draped a wing over her. Voltlyn accepted the comforting gesture, and closed her eyes tiredly.

"F... Finally. He's gone... He'll never... He'll never..." Voltlyn choked, and forced back her tears, sniffing and breathing deeply. Ember hugged Voltlyn closer, squashing the Topaz dragoness between her and Lyrith. The Albino smiled as Voltlyn wept tears of joy and grief, relieved that Torch would finally be out of her life. That she would see her mother again, and could start a new life of her own.

_"That's right Voltlyn. You're finally free."_

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang (Lyrith, Savron, Igneous, Zindy, Tirren, Typhous, Sleet)

Temple staff (Inferna, Cadence, Deran)

Torch

Voltlyn, Danrah, Vash.

Huzzah! Voltlyn's finally been saved from that nasty mean old Torch, and can start her own life now! Woo! =D

This was a funtastic chapter to write, and hopefully to read as well. Torch finally get's his comeuppance, and Danrah finally gets some more 'screen time' in the fic. She, like Voltlyn will be playing a bigger part of Dark Legacy from now on. Next chapter will be a bit of a filler, though with a couple important bits to glue everything together, but then the last half of the plot kicks in. ^^ Well, I don't know if it's a full half, maybe a third ...

Thanks to GoldenGriffiness for her excellent beta skills. Really helped me out with this chapter. :3


	20. Emotions

Chapter 20. Emotions

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, The Temple, Warfang or any other place or characters belonging to the Spyro franchise. Make sure to carry a plunger around with you at all times in case of... Emergencies. Several of my own characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

A faint warm breeze lazily ruffled the curtains of Voltlyn's room. The sunrise warmed the dark horizon with light, just out of view from the window. Thick white clouds drifted across the sky like a flock of fleecy sheep. The room was dimly lit, with only the glow from the sun lighting up the chamber.

Voltlyn lay amidst her pillows, sleeping soundly for the first time in years. Muted snuffles echoed around the room as, for once, she dreamed peaceful dreams. The sun crested the horizon, and steadily rose until it was fully visible in the sky. Its radiance washed over the lightning dragoness's room and waking her with its warm rays.

She yawned widely, blinking as the light caught her eyes, temporarily blinding her. She shook her horned head and stretched her scaled topaz body, and rolled idly to her paws. Still working the weariness from her body, Voltlyn moved to the door to leave. She reached out to open the door, when the events of the previous day hit her like a thunder clap.

She inhaled sharply, eyes widening as a a silly grin spread over her muzzle. An odd feeling of warmth spread through her, and she all but danced across the floor, laughing. She came to a stop, panting from exertion, and sat down on the floor. The intense feeling of joy slowly dimmed, and a new feeling arose. An odd sensation of being lost.

_"Every moment I've spent here at the Temple was ruled by Torch. Everything I did was to please him, to keep mom safe. Now that I'm free, what do I do with my life?"_ Voltlyn wondered, puzzled, tapping a claw on the carpet deep in thought, hoping to think of something to fill the gap left in her life. After several minutes of racking her brain, she gave up.

"I'm sure I'll figure it out later." The thickly set lightning dragoness murmured, opening the door and exiting her room. She wandered aimlessly for a while, only half paying attention to her surroundings. She walked among the crowds of students and servants, not noticing the glances that they cast her way as she passed.

Her trance was broken as she passed by the kitchens, the lovely smell of food causing her stomach to growl irritably. Smiling she turned into the kitchens and waited in line for breakfast. Once she had her meal in paw, Voltlyn turned to find an empty seat, only to be greeted by Lyrith, who was standing beside her.

"Morning. How are you feeling?" He asked, his red eyes glancing over her quickly, as if to check for injuries before meeting her eyes. Voltlyn started a bit at his sudden appearance, and nodded.

"Um... I'm doing fine... Thanks for asking." She mumbled, looking away from the white. Lyrith nodded, and followed her as she wound her way through the crowded tables.

"Would you like to sit with us?" Lyr inquired, gesturing over to the table Savron and his other friends sat at.

"Uh..." Voltlyn whispered shyly, flushing slightly.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind. And besides, do you have anywhere better to sit?" The Albino murmured, and Voltlyn stopped, shaking her head.

"No... No I don't."

Lyrith turned and started off towards his table, looking back at her, and nodding his head towards it. Voltlyn paused for a brief moment, and then followed after him anxiously.

Savron waved them over once he caught sight of the two, and Lyrith took his seat at the table. Voltlyn hovered nervously at his side, taking a seat only after a nod from the occupants from the table.

"So you must be Voltlyn." Savron said calmly, stretching a paw out towards the lightning dragoness. She took it hesitantly, and the purple shook her paw firmly. "I'm Savron, and these are my friends: Igneous, Tirren, Typhous..."

Voltlyn shook each paw in turn, returning their smiles shyly, face red in embarrassment from all the attention she was receiving.

"... And of course you've already met Lyrith." Savron finished, gesturing to the white dragon.

"Yes." Voltlyn whispered, looking down at her plate and picking up a rib of pork.

"So what kind of stuff do you like doing, Voltlyn?" Typhous asked, trying to catch Voltlyn's eyes with his own, but failing.

"Well... I... I like to paint and stuff." Voltlyn murmured, her eyes flicking from side to side.

"Ah, an excellent hobby." The wind dragon said smoothly, smiling appreciatively. "One that seems less and less prevalent nowadays."

"Yeah, that's pretty neat." Tirren agreed, nodding in Typhous's direction. "I read a lot. Though Sav here keeps dragging us off on adventures, so I haven't been able to read as much as I would like."

"No kidding, he keeps finding something for us to be doing." Sleet chuckled, biting into his chicken breast.

"Sounds like fun." Voltlyn murmured, smiling slightly.

"Oh it is." Igneous laughed, cheerfully. "You should come with us sometime."

"I'll think about it." Voltlyn replied, her eyes flicking away from the red and over the group again. They fell into an awkward silence, unsure what should be said next. As the silence dragged on, Savron fidgeted about, casting curious glances over at Voltlyn. He took a deep breath, let it out, and waited. Finally he broke, his curiosity too much to hold back.

"So, is it true?" He asked, a little too loudly. "Did Torch really... well... you know..."

"Savron!" Tirren gasped, shocked. She slapped him across the back of the head with her paw, and he cried out in surprise and pain. "Do you have any sense! That isn't something you should ask someone, idiot!"

Savron glanced up, and found everyone at the table glaring at him, Voltlyn's eyes were locked on the table, her body stiff and shaking slightly.

"Sorry." Savron mumbled, apologetically. "I was just curious. It's all everyone is talking about, and... And I didn't really think about it. Sorry."

"It's okay." Voltlyn whispered, her voice strained. She took a long, deep breath, and let it out slowly. "He did." She murmured, almost too low to be heard.

"Oh... I'm so sorry." Tirren replied, her expression saddened, placing a paw on Voltlyn's shoulder. Voltlyn froze at her touch, but relaxed after a second. She didn't look up.

"We all knew he was a bastard, but who ever thought he had it in him to do something so... so horrible." Igneous sighed, shaking his head.

"Hope the monster gets what's coming to him." Typhous spat, his normally peaceful expression twisted up in hate.

Savron snickered suddenly, and they all looked at him confused. He waved a paw to them, and winked conspiratorially.

"Don't worry about Torch, he'll get it all back, and more."

"What do you mean?" Tirren asked, pursing her muzzle.

"I overheard mom and dad talking about it." Savron winked slyly. "And they're giving him to the five kings for punishment."

Lyrith felt a smug grin tug across his face, and saw similar expressions cross the other's muzzles. _"What I would give to see that trial."_ Lyrith thought, regretfully.

"Let's move on to a less touchy topic." Tirren murmured, glancing over at Voltlyn. The topaz dragoness had cheered up a bit at the mention of the kings, and smiled gratefully over at Tirren. They paused, trying to think of something to talk about, when a cough drew their attention. Aiel stood beside their table, shuffling his paws shyly.

"Um... Hi." He mumbled.

"Hey Aiel." Igneous grunted through his turkey leg. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was hoping to give my condolences to Voltlyn." The silver horned Albino smiled nervously, turning to the topaz dragoness. "I heard about what happened. And I... well... I wish I could have done something to help..."

Voltlyn smiled over at the Albino, and shook her head. "No, don't worry. You were nice to me when I needed it most. That helped a lot."

"Oh... Well it was my pleasure." Aiel chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Voltlyn nodded, and then paused.

"There's actually something I would like to tell you." Voltlyn murmured. Aiel looked over at her curiously.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Well, it's about that time the training ring was destroyed." Voltlyn said, gathering up her courage. Aiel's face fell.

"Oh yeah, when I destroyed..."

"No! That's the part I wanted to talk about! It wasn't your fault!"

Aiel smiled sadly, and shook his head. "It's nice of you to say that, but..."

"No, it really isn't!" Voltlyn insisted. "It was Wintra's fault. She iced up the ground you were walking on and made you slip. I didn't say anything because I was afraid Torch would get mad at me..."

Aiel blinked in surprise, and stared at Voltlyn incredulously. "Really?"

"Yes." Voltlyn nodded. "I saw it myself. If you want, I'll stand up for you if you want to talk to Terrador and Spyro about it."

Aiel beamed. "Yes! Thank you." He cried, hugging Voltlyn, who stiffened in surprise. He broke the hug when he noticed her blushing. "Thank you so much! I'll tell them tomorrow! I've got a lot of work to do today." Grinning widely the white dragon servant left the table, a bounce in his step. Voltlyn watched him go, a small smile creasing her muzzle.

Tirren smirked. "I knew they had something to do with it!"

"As did I." Savron said smugly, and Igneous rolled his eyes.

"I imagine that Terrador will be giving Wintra a bit of a harder time from now on during advanced training." Igneous snickered, raising his eye ridges in amusement.

"Oh I certainly hope so." Tirren replied, her voice full of malicious amusement.

"Speaking of school: we've still got another week left of break, right?" Sleet asked, looking around the group for conformation.

"Pretty much." Tirren responded, nodding. "About six days or so."

"I'll need to go down to town and buy some new paper and ink." Lyrith grunted, licking the last remnants of jam from his claws. "There are also some books I saw last time I was down there that I'm interested in."

"Same." Sleet nodded. "I need to get the new text books for next semester, and I want to send a letter to Crystal, I haven't written for a week, she must be anxious waiting for it."

"Now that you mention it," Savron said, taping a claw on his chin thoughtfully. "I should probably stock up on supplies too, don't want mom to buy my stuff again." The purple dragon shuddered. "Ugh. Yellow hippos."

"I need a new scarf." Typhous muttered, examining the blue silk he wore around his neck. "I'm looking out of season, too much winter for this time of year. I think green and orange would be a better choice for summer." The slim wind dragon shook his head and sighed, the gold chains he wore webbed between his horns jingled. "And just as I was starting to feel attached to blues and whites."

"Well, if we're all going, we might as well go together." Tirren said, smiling. "How about right after lunch, sound good?"

"Sure." The five males agreed, nodding. Lyrith looked over at Voltlyn, who had stayed quiet throughout the entire conversation.

"Want to come?" He whispered. After a moment of consideration, Voltlyn nodded.

"CanIcometoo! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!" Zindy shouted, appearing beside Voltlyn, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Yeah, sure Zindy." Savron laughed, and then turned to Voltlyn. "This is Zindy, or Zindyala as she's formally called."

Zindy turned to face Voltlyn, grabbed her paw, and shook it up and down ecstatically.

"Nicetomeetyou! I'veseenyouaroundbefore, butwe'venevertalked. What'syourname?"

"Uh... Voltlyn." The topaz replied, blinking in confusion.

"HiVoltlyn! I hope we can become good friends." Zindy said, slowing down, taking a deep breath and grinning widely.

"I hope so too." Voltlyn replied, grinning down at the small lightning dragoness. Zindy turned her head, the rainbow of ribbons tied to her horns whipping around in a flurry of colour.

"Meet you in the great hall after lunch?" Zindy asked curiously.

"Yep, if you're free of course." Tirren replied, smiling. Zindy nodded.

"Nope, not busy. I'm actually pretty bored." Zindy sighed plaintively. "It would be nice if it was before lunch, but I can wait."

"Maybe before lunch." Savron grunted, putting down the last of his fried pork chop. "I know a great restaurant down there, might be nice to eat out for once."

"Sure, why not?" Tirren said, shrugging. Zindy beamed.

"Great! Seeyoutherebeforelunch!" Laughing, Zindy bounded away, skipping merrily through the tables. The group at the table watched her go, amused expressions on their faces, and then they turned their attentions back to their meals, and finished eating.

* * *

"Okay, everyone here?" Tirren called out as the group gathered around her in the great hall. The group gave a collective 'yes' and Tirren nodded.

"Alright, guess I don't have to ask if you all have bags and money, right?"

"No, you don't. Because if you did, I'd be forced to say the 'you're not my mother line.'" Savron joked, winking at the emerald green dragoness. Tirren rolled her eyes, and then nodded.

"Good. Now let's get going."

Savron coughed, and said something under his breath, Igneous rolled his eyes. Then the group moved out of the great hall, and into the gardens. They moved quickly through the trees, and over to the gate in the massive wall surrounding the Dragon Temple. The guards nodded to the group, and cranked open the gate for them, letting them out of the Temple and onto the path that wound down to the town.

Tirren led the group, with Savron and Igneous following close behind her, Lyr and Voltlyn took up the rear. The white glanced down over the cliff side as they followed the path, looking down at the mushroom forest below. In one direction, mushroom caps spread as far as the eye could see, while in another, flat grassy plains stretched to the horizon.

The group moved to the side, so a steam powered carriage could roll past. Inside the carriage, Lyr could just make out the well groomed figures of a dragoness and her son. They chatted lightly, noses held importantly in the air as they spoke.

"So who was that?" Lyrith whispered over to Typhous, curious. The wind dragon looked over at the carriage, examining the crest that the flag bore. He snorted.

"Baroness Treble and her bloated son Polius by the looks of it."

"What are they doing here?" Lyr questioned, stepping up beside Typhous. The wind dragon shrugged.

"Probably trying to bribe Polius's way into the Temple, she's been at it for almost a year now. She donates money to the Temple, and then has her son tested. The Guardians don't refuse the tests because of her donations, but Polius is so incompetent and so arrogant, that he fails miserably every single time."

"Does this kind of thing happen often?" Lyrith murmured, amused. Typhous nodded.

"Oh yes. Having a family member or heir taught at the Temple is a big thing among noble circles, boosts the family's status considerably. It means that the child is exemplary in intelligence and strength, a good sign for the family's fortunes. Plus it's great gloating material for a family to hold above a rival family's head."

"Interesting." Lyrith mused, glancing back at the carriage, which was just pulling to a stop in front of the Temple gates. "How often does buying and bribing actually succeed in bringing in a student?"

"Not very often actually." Typhous admitted, smirking. "Unlike most other academies, the Temple isn't about turning a profit, it's about finding and training the best dragons in the realms for the betterment of all."

"I see." Lyrith grunted, nodding.

"That's not to say that donations don't help in recruiting new students." Typhous laughed, shaking his head. "Money will lower the Guardian's standards, not much, but often enough so that less talented dragons can get in. Burnam is a good example of this. He's from a fairly wealthy family that owns a decent sized stone working business. He's smart and an okay fighter with fairly potent magic, but he wasn't talented enough to get in the first time around, Terrador tested him eight times before he failed him. Two months later his family donates a hefty sum, and they let him try again. Terrador passes him after four tests."

"So bribing can only get you so far." Lyrith said, glancing back over to Typhous. The grey nodded.

"Right. Money is nice and all, but it doesn't really matter that much to the Guardians. They want talent."

The group stepped down off the path, onto firm ground, and started towards the town.

"Thunder's family is one of the richest in the realms, nearly on equal terms with any of the kings, and yet he didn't have to pay a copper to get into the Temple. He passed on the second test. Same with Wintra and most of the real students here. You'll find a few that had to bribe their way in, but most are removed from the Temple after the first exam, or lose heart because of the sheer difficulty of the subjects."

"Makes sense." Lyrith grunted as they entered the town square. The group stopped, and Tirren looked around at the group.

"I'm going over to the book store over there, let's meet back here in about four hours. That alright with everyone?"

Everyone nodded, and Tirren set off towards the book store, Igneous following behind after a short pause.

"That shop looks lovely." Typhous sighed, padding over to a clothing shop across the street, scarves and drapes shrouding several stone mannequins in a large window.

Lyrith set off down one of the streets, looking for a shop to buy paper wear and ink. Voltlyn took off after Lyrith, Savron tailing her.

Lyrith marveled at the town. It was enormous, more like a tiny city than a real town. A miniature thriving metropolis built off of the fame of the Dragon Temple. Goods of every kind were sold here, as much for the students as for tourists. Cobblestone streets, large two story stone buildings, enchanted lamps, there wasn't a speck of the town that wasn't beautiful.

Lyrith stopped at a shop called Draconian Pens, and stepped inside. It was well lit, with firm wood floors, and polished tables. Shelves filled with bound journals, box's of quills and pens, and stacks of paper lined every wall. Behind the counter by the door, a snooty fire dragon sat, glaring down at Lyrith with distain.

"And what might you be doing in here, street rat?" He sniffed, his blue eyes piercing the white from behind his spectacles. Lyrith glowered back up at him, and pulled his purse from his neck sack. He dropped the bag on the counter, and it thudded loudly, accompanied by the jingling of coins.

"I'm here to buy." Lyrith said flatly, his eyes never leaving the clerks. The fire dragon blinked in surprise. His expression changed from hostile to welcoming in the blink of an eye.

"Well why didn't you just say so!" The clerk cried, smiling widely. Before Lyrith could respond, Savron and Voltlyn wandered in.

"Good choice Lyrith." Savron grunted, nodding his purple head in approval. "Seems like a nice enough place to shop for school supplies."

Lyrith felt a surge of satisfaction at seeing the clerk's shocked expression as the legendary son of Spyro and Cynder treated the 'Albino street rat' like a close friend.

"G... greetings young master." The clerk bowed to the purple, his muzzle almost touching the ground. "How may I serve you?"

Savron looked over at the kneeling dragon and sighed. "Well, how about you let us take a look around your store for a bit, so we can decide what to buy."

"Yes, sir." The fire dragon murmured, getting up and taking his place behind the counter. Savron looked over at Lyrith, and rolled his eyes. Lyrith smirked in return, and they set off into the store, Voltlyn padding on behind them.

Lyrith broke off to examine the wide selection of pens on one wall, while Savron stopped to grab some packets of paper. Voltlyn turned to follow Lyrith, but Savron stopped her.

"Hey, um... Voltlyn?" He called over to the lightning dragoness, and she turned back to him questioningly.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you had any plans today outside this little shopping trip." Savron murmured, sidling up to her and smiling, his eye ridges raising mischievously.

"Uh... well, no. Not really..." Voltlyn whispered, glancing down at her paws to find them shuffling back and forth.

"Well I know of a wonderful spot in the gardens that's excellent for a picnic." Savron grinned, stepping up beside her and nudging her with one of his furled wings. "I'm sure a beautiful dragoness such as yourself would find it absolutely breathtaking."

"Be... beautiful?" Voltlyn blushed, staring up at Savron incredulously. "I... I'm not that pretty..."

"Au contrair." Savron laughed. "You may not have the same build as most other dragonesses, but that just adds to your charm." Savron took her paw in his own, and kissed it delicately.

"I... I don't know..." Voltlyn stammered, her face a bright red.

"Hey Sav, can you pass me that pack of paper?" Lyrith asked, padding up to the two. He raised an eye ridge upon seeing Voltlyn's flushed face. Savron nodded.

"Sure." The purple grabbed the indicated pack of paper, and pawed it over to Lyrith. "Here you go."

Lyrith nodded his thanks, and moved down the aisle to grab some ink. Savron turned back to Voltlyn.

"Just think about it, trust me when I say it'll be fun." Savron winked, and set off down the aisle after Lyrith, leaving Voltlyn behind, wide eyed and flustered, her face burning.

...

"Stories of our World, and More? Really? The author's a hack!" Tirren exclaimed, staring at the book she held in her paw as she and Igneous left the book store, laden with their new purchases. "He can barely keep his characters in character, his scenes are riddled with cliches, and his dialogue is utter drivel. Why would you buy this tripe!"

Igneous took the book back and grinned, shaking his head. They left the patio of the bookshop, and slipped into the crowded street, joining the mob of bodies.

"He isn't that bad, Rin." The big red chuckled, sliding the book back into his bag. "He has a couple really good ones, and this one has all of them. Mom read me them when I was younger, but lost the books in the library. It would be nice to read them again. I really enjoyed the one about Teronus."

Tirren snorted and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The flow of people guided them down the street and through the market place. Tirren glanced around, keeping an eye out for something interesting, when one store in particular caught her eye.

"Let's go check out that jewelry shop. It's been a while since I've gotten anything new to wear." Tirren shouted over the rumbled of the crowd. Igneous nodded and together they broke away from the crowd, heading into the shop.

The inside was cramped, nearly all the space taken up by glass cabinets containing hundreds of pieces of jewelry. They nodded to the mole behind the counter, and started exploring the shop.

"That tail ring is nice." Igneous murmured, gesturing over into one of the cabinets toward a gold ring, engraved with ivy patterns. Tirren nodded in agreement, and moved on, her blue eyes searching the shelves.

"Oh, what's this?" She whispered, her eyes locking onto a necklace laying in a glass case nearby. They approached it, and Tirren examined it with a keen eye. It consisted of gold beads strung together with small sapphires. A medallion hung at the end, a gold circle emblazoned with a sword and shield.

"Very pretty." Igneous said appreciatively. Tirren smiled.

"Very." She agreed.

"Want to buy it?" Igneous asked, looking over to her. She paused, cocking her head, and then nodded. "Then let's."

The red turned and padded over to the clerk behind the counter.

"Tirren here would like to purchase a necklace." Igneous grunted, nodding over to where Tirren sat, waiting. The mole looked over at her, and smiled knowingly. The small mole jumped down off of his stool, and jogged over to where Tirren sat. He peered into the glass case, and nodded, grinning.

"Ah, so zat is zeh one you want?" The mole asked, nodding in approval. "Fine choice, zat is one of my better pieces."

"How much for it?" Tirren inquired, her face impassive as Igneous came to a stop beside her. The mole shrugged.

"Roughly sixty gold pieces."

Tirren's face clenched slightly. "May I see it?" She asked. The mole nodded, and taking a key out of his vest, opened the case. He lifted the necklace out, and Tirren took it in paw, eyeing it critically.

"It is of zeh finest quality." The mole assured her, standing straight and proud. "Zeh gold is pure, and zeh gems flawless. Zeh medallion even has a secret to eet."

"Really?" Tirren asked, skeptically. The mole nodded, and took the necklace back. His small hands twisted a few times, and the medallion popped open, revealing a small compartment inside. Igneous raised an eye ridge in surprise, and the mole closed the compartment, and twisted it back into place.

"Eet isn't very large, but anything from a couple coins, to a small gem or two will fit in there." The mole winked knowingly, nudging her with his elbow. "Compartments such as zis are most commonly used for keeping a picture of a lover close to zeh heart."

Tirren flushed slightly, and Igneous glanced between the two, puzzled.

"Well, this is a nice piece of jewelry, but sixty sounds a bit high. I'm willing to pay forty five for it."

"I'm afraid zis necklace is worth well above zat." The mole countered, his eyes twinkling. "Fifty five, no more, no less."

"Fourty seven." Tirren sniffed.

"Fifty two."

"Forty nine."

"Agreed." The mole smirked, satisfied. He stretched out his hand, and Tirren took it. She reached into her pouch, and produced a small purse of coins. She pulled out the gold coins, and handed over the money. The mole grinned, and passed the necklace over to Tirren, who took it delicately.

"Pleasure doing business with you." The clerk bowed, and returned to his counter, depositing the gold into a safe vault. Tirren smiled, and looked over to Igneous.

"Um... Igneous, could you help me put this on?" She asked, blushing slightly. The red dragon nodded.

"Sure."

Tirren stood up on her hind paws and pawed the amulet over to him. Igneous too, stood on his hind paws, and moved up in front of her. He slipped the necklace around her neck, and reached around to latch it together. Tirren's flush deepened as his body pressed against her as he worked the latch, his muscled frame brushing her thin body as they stood.

"And... There!" He grinned, feeling the clasp lock in place. He looked down at Tirren, his grey eyes sparkling, and blinked in surprise as he noticed her red face. "What's the matter?" He asked, puzzled, a slight blush crossing his own face as he realized how close together they were.

Tirren's forepaws touched his chest, her breathing coming hard as he looked down, their muzzles almost touching. Slowly, she leaned forward, her eyes closing as she gathered up the courage to do what she had dreampt of doing since she had first met him. The door to the jewelry shop slammed open, startling the two, and they looked over at the door, still locked together in a half embrace.

"Oh Rin, Iggy, what are you two..." Typhous said, smiling as he came through the door. He paused as he saw them, his eyes widening. Tirren broke away from Igneous, her face scarlet. Igneous looked over at Typhous, and them back at Tirren, confused and blushing lightly. Typhous closed his eyes, and slapped a paw to his forehead.

"Fuck." He whispered, turning and leaving the store. "Why did I have to choose this store, they were **that** close to doing it! That close!"

Tirren and Igneous watched him go, wide eyed, hearts hammering. Igneous looked over at her, and smiled nervously.

"The... The necklace looks really good on you." He murmured. Tirren's blush faded a bit, and she smiled back.

"Thanks."

"Well um... Let's go meet up with the others." Igneous grinned awkwardly. Tirren nodded in agreement, and they followed Typhous out of the store, and back into the crowded streets.

...

"Okay, I'll meet you two over at the diner. Remember, it's called Venison Heaven, alright?" Savron called over to Lyrith and Voltlyn as they stepped out of Draconian Pens, and came to a stop just outside the crowded street. Lyr and Voltlyn nodded in understanding as the purple entered the crowd. Savron smiled and waved back. "Great, see you there then! Don't take too long though, otherwise we'll start without you!"

"Got it!" Lyrith called back, grinning at the mischievous look on Savron's face. "We'll hurry over as soon as we're done."

Savron nodded and bobbed through the crowd, his purple scales giving him safe passage through the crowd as people stepped aside for him. Lyrith turned to Voltlyn as the crowd swallowed the purple up, and cocked his head at the topaz dragoness.

"Now then, do you have anywhere you want to go to before we take our lunch break? I've still got to stop by a book store to get some new reading material. It wouldn't be too much trouble to take a slight detour."

Voltlyn looked around the crowded market place, her blue eyes scanning the store names. "Well, I had been kind of hoping to stop by an antique shop to check and see if they have any music crystals in stock." Voltlyn murmured, hoisting the bag of canvas sheets she had purchased into a more comfortable position on her back. Lyrith nodded.

"I think I saw one on our way here, let's drop by there first, it isn't too far away."

Voltlyn nodded gratefully, and they set off through the crowd, fighting through the flood of bodies to the other side of the street. Lyrith got there first, and he paused, waiting for Voltlyn to emerge. She broke free a few yards ahead of him, and he jogged over to her.

"Follow me." He grunted, taking the lead again. Voltlyn followed after him without hesitation. They were halfway down the street when a lithe, muscular ice dragon bumped into Lyrith, nearly knocking the Albino to the floor.

"Watch were you're going!" The ice dragon hissed, glancing down at Lyrith, as he regained his balance. His expression turned from sour, to sly as Lyr turned to glare at the ice drake. Voltlyn came to a stop nearby, watching the confrontation.

"Ah, what perfect timing!" The ice drake sneered, his dark brown eyes narrowing. "I'm in need of a dragon like you."

"And what do you mean by that?" Lyrith snarled, his red eyes burning.

"Don't talk back to me, urchin!" The ice drake growled in rebuke, raising a claw as if to strike down at Lyrith. His voice calmed back down, slowing down until it sounded as if he was speaking to a child. "Now I need you to carry this baggage up to the Temple." The Ice dragon gestured over to a pile of six stuffed sacks the size of Lyr's upper body and then up at the Temple. "My son will be taking the test, and I want his luggage to be there for him when he's admitted. Do this for me, and I'll give you **three silver coins**." He held up three claws. "**Three**, do you understand?"

A growl escaped Lyrith's throat as he stared up at the dragon, his red eyes narrowed to slits.

"I have a deal for you." Lyrith whispered, his voice slow and menacing. "How about you take that luggage," Lyrith pointed to the ice dragon and then to the baggage. "tie it to your legs," the white made a gesture like tying a knot. "and throw yourself in a lake you insensitive ass."

The ice dragon blinked in shock, his muzzle falling open in dumbfounded horror. Lyrith sneered up at the ice drake, spat on his paws, and turned away.

"Why you!" The ice dragon howled, stomping over and raising a paw and striking down at Lyrith. Lyrith ducked the blow and skipped ahead of the dragon. The wild swing caught a passerby across the head, and the earth dragon roared in pain.

"What the fuck are you doing, moron! The dragon roared, stamping over to the ice dragon, who backed away fearfully from the massive green.

"Wait! It's not my fault, it's..." He stammered, but was cut off as the earth drake cuffed the ice across the muzzle with his own paw. Lyrith padded over to Voltlyn, and smirked as a brawl exploded in the middle of the street.

"Come on this way." He grinned, nodding his head down the street heading away from the fight. Voltlyn looked over at the fight, and snickered as she saw the arrogant ice dragon get buried beneath a wave of bodies. Lyrith chuckled along with her, and set off down the street, smiling smugly.

The store was small, but well built, red clay bricks mortared together into a solid structure. The windows were packed with various odds and ends, everything from old toys to furniture on display. Lyrith looked to Voltlyn, and she nodded, moving forward and entering the building. Lyrith stepped in after her.

The interior was cluttered and dusty, with only one clear path of empty floor leading from the door to the counter. Voltlyn stopped by the counter where a stuffy looking wind dragon sat, trying and failing to look important.

"Do... Do you have any music crystals in stock?" Voltlyn asked, looking up anxiously at the wind dragon. The clerk paused and thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

"I do believe we have a couple buried somewhere around here. Give me a moment." The wind dragon slipped out from behind the counter, and disappeared behind a stack of chairs. Lyrith padded slowly over to Voltlyn, casting curious looks around at the items in the room.

"Ah, here they are!" The clerk exclaimed, emerging from behind a marble statue with a box held in his paws. He blew the dust off of it, and sneezed violently. He returned to his spot behind the counter, and placing the box down in front of Voltlyn, opening it up. "There are three of them in here, a Borston, Clarix, and Bluimal. Each lovely composers, I must say."

"Can I hear them?" Voltlyn asked, eying the three clear crystals eagerly. The clerk frowned and shook his head.

"Unfortunately I don't have a music box in stock to play them, the last one I had was sold off to a fiery young noble just a few weeks ago. Haven't seen another for sale since."

"Oh." Voltlyn murmured, sighing. "How much for them then?"

"Each is worth thirty three gold a piece." The wind dragon coughed eyeing her speculatively. "They are rather rare now that their creator has passed away."

Voltlyn flinched. "I don't have that much, I don't suppose..."

The wind dragon shook his head. "Unfortunately this is not something I'm willing to haggle over. Not many are being bought nowadays, so I must do my best to earn something from them."

"If not many are buying them, then wouldn't it be prudent to lower the price so you** can** turn a profit then?" Lyrith cut in, stepping forward and gazing up at the dragon, his red eyes hard. The wind dragon sneered down at the white, his eyes just as hard. "I have lowered the price. The original price for the crystals was set at fifty gold a piece. Thirty three is the lowest I can lower it, and still make some money off of them."

Lyrith's expression darkened at the storekeeper's condescending tone, but Voltlyn cut him off before he could respond.

"I see. Well I'm sorry for wasting your time then." Voltlyn sighed, casting one last longing look at the crystals before turning away. Lyrith looked between Voltlyn's sad expression, and the storekeeper closing the box of crystals.

"Voltlyn, how much are you missing?" Lyrith asked, placing a paw on her shoulder to stop her. Voltlyn looked up, puzzled.

"Fourteen gold pieces, why?" She asked, confused. Lyrith sighed heavily, and then turned back to the wind dragon, who had stopped to watch them.

"We'll take it." The Albino grunted, turning to the shopkeeper and taking out his purse of coins. "If it means that much to you." He finished, glancing over at Voltlyn. She blinked in surprise.

"N... No. Well I mean yes, it does, but I don't want you to spend your own money on me!" Voltlyn cried, taking a step towards him.

Lyrith shrugged. "Why not? If the crystal you want is so important to you, then you should get it. My books can wait, I still have plenty of them left to read."

Voltlyn stared at Lyrith incredulously. "But..." She whispered.

"Unless you don't want it." Lyrith murmured, glancing over at the shopkeeper, who had placed the box down, open to reveal the three crystals. Taking the hint, the shopkeeper started to close the box. Voltlyn glanced between Lyr and the box, her eyes wide.

"Al... Alright." She whispered, sighing. "I'll take it."

The shopkeeper grinned, and beckoned her forward. "Okay, which one do you want?" He asked, gesturing to the three shards. Voltlyn picked over them, examining each in turn, and then selected one.

"Ah, Clarix, excellent choice." The wind dragon smirked. He glanced between the two young dragons, and reached out with a paw, pads upward. Lyrith poured fourteen gold coins into the shopkeeper's paw, and Voltlyn emptied her own purse onto the counter. Taking the indicated crystal from the case placed it in a smaller, less ornate box.

"Here you go." He murmured, passing the crystal over to Voltlyn, who took it delicately, as if it was a small child. "Thank you for the excellent business. Please, come again."

Lyrith and Voltlyn left the store at a slow trot, and stopped as the door shut behind them.

"You didn't have to do that." Voltlyn said, her voice low as she glanced over at Lyrith. The Albino shrugged.

"I suppose I didn't, but it seemed far more important to you than any of the books were to me."

"If you say so..." Voltlyn sighed, smiling slightly as she packed the crystal into her bag.

"Don't worry too much about me." Lyrith said, grinning over at her. "Deran pays me well, and I still have a fair amount of spending money left. I'll be fine."

Voltlyn caught Lyrith's red gaze, and suddenly leaned forward, nudging his cheek with her snout. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear frill. A small blush bloomed across his face, and Voltlyn giggled, pulling away from him.

"Y... You're welcome." Lyrith stuttered, all but speechless in shock. Voltlyn's giggle grew into a laugh, and smiling she took the lead, bounding away. Lyrith followed after her, a silly grin on his face.

...

"Ugh, I am stuffed!" Savron sighed, smiling widely as they made their way back up to the Temple. The sun was well passed its zenith in the baby blue sky, and was partially cloaked by white clouds as the group tramped up the cliffside path back home.

"I have to admit Sav," Tirren groaned, walking close behind him and Igneous. "you do know some pretty good restaurants."

"No kidding." Sleet sighed contentedly, smiling.

"Glad you liked it." Savron grinned, glancing back over his shoulder, and winking at Tirren. "Though you owe me Rin for having to pay for your meal."

"Oh shut up Sav." Tirren sighed, rolling her eyes. "You owed me for that time I didn't rat you out to your parents about that shenanigan with the meat grinder. We're even now."

"Damn, forgot about that." Savron cursed, shaking his head in disappointment. "Will my fantasies ever be fulfilled!" He cried out, looking up at the sky disparagingly. Tirren snorted.

"Hell no."

Igneous looked between the two, his expression more troubled than amused. His grey eyes watched the two bicker and fight, flicking back and forth, but lingering slightly longer on Tirren than Savron. Behind the red dragon, Typhous watched Igneous, concerned guilt in his eyes.

"You're no fun, Rin." Savron chuckled dryly.

"Oh I'm lots of fun, just not with you." Tirren replied, barring her fangs in a feral grin.

From the back of the group, Lyrith and Voltlyn watched the exchange, though their eyes were also on Igneous, who seemed to be struggling with something. His expression and stance were neutral, but his eyes flicked back and forth between them in confusion.

They reached the Temple gate, and slipped through, the guards nodding to each of them as they passed. Inside, a flustered and filthy ice dragon stood, arguing with Flame. His blue scales were bruised and his fine scarf and drape torn. The ice dragon looked over as they entered, and froze upon seeing Lyrith. The white smirked and winked at the ice dragon as he passed, sticking out his tongue as the ice dragon's muzzle hit the floor in shock. The guards waved the group in, and shut the door behind them.

"Well, that was a fun outing." Savron murmured as they entered the gardens. "We should do that more often."

"Probably." Typhous replied, yawning. "It's not even evening, and I'm already beat. What a day."

"You're right there." Sleet mumbled as they entered the Temple, coming to a stop in the great hall. "Even Zindy is so pooped, she can hardly speak."

"Yeah," Savron laughed, turning to gaze into the group. "right Zind... Where did she go?"

Puzzled, the group looked around, but the little yellow dragon was nowhere to be seen.

"What the...? She was here a second ago." Tirren muttered, glancing left and right. "I wonder where..."

"BOOO!"

The group jumped in surprise, shouting in alarm. Everyone looked up, to see Zindy hanging from a statue upside down, a wide grin etched across her face. She fluttered down, and snatched the satchel off of Savron's neck, and scampered away.

"Nehnehnehnah! I'vegotyourstuff!" Zindy taunted, holding Savron's bag aloft. Savron's expression grew fearful, and he stepped forward, a paw stretched out as if to grab his belongings.

"Give that back Zindy." He whispered, his face pensive. "That stuff's private, no dragonesses aloud."

Zindy stuck her tongue out at Savron, and Tirren chuckled evily.

"Now you've got me curious, Sav." The emerald dragoness snickered, also taking a step forward. "Give the bag to me, Zindy, and I'll give you a new ribbon."

"No, don't listen to her, Zindy." Savron choked, taking another step. "If you give me my bag back, I'll give you something shiny..."

Zindy pursed her muzzle thoughtfully, and then grinned. "I'll give it back to whoever can catch me first. OnetwothreeGO!" The small yellow dragoness turned and rocketed off down the corridor. Savron and Tirren stood there stunned for a moment. Then they took off after Zindy, shouting and pushing, trying to get the other to stumble or fall. Igneous laughed and ran down a different hall, hoping to make up for lost time with a shortcut, Typhous and Sleet hot on his heels.

Lyr glanced over to Voltlyn, who giggled at the sight, and grinned. "Well?" He asked mischievously. Voltlyn nodded, and together they took off after the others, laughing as they pelted down the halls, after the runaway dragoness.

* * *

A strong gust blew the trees of the Temple gardens fitfully, the early morning sky still dark, with countless stars speckling the sky. The full moon touched the horizon, and the soft glow of the distant sun started to lighten the sky into a dusky blue. Hovering above the treetops, Lyrith flew, beating his wings hard to keep aloft, a heavy stone gripped between his paws. He huffed and grunted in effort as he strained against gravity and the stone, slowly acending up into the sky.

The Albino soared through the sky, occasionally diving, flipping and changing direction to break up the circles he flew. Lyr ground his fangs as he pulled up from a dive, every muscle in his body taut, his claws digging into the stone to keep a good grip. Condensation from the cool, moist morning air trickled into his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to removed the distraction.

The rock slipped in his claws, and Lyrith cursed as he struggled to keep hold of it, but to no avail. It tumbled out of his paws, and into the gardens below. Sighing, Lyrith glided down after it, landing in the bushes. He scoured the garden for the stone, and found it in the middle of a bed of flowers, a couple crushed daisies laying beneath it. Huffing, Lyrith padded over and hoisted the stone up, and walked slowly from the flower bed, placing his hind paws carefully to avoid destroying any more flowers.

Lyrith dropped the stone by a large pool, and bounded over to a nearby tree where a small bag of weights and string lay. He tied two to each leg, and gaze up at the tree. It was tall, nearly reaching to the top of the fourth floor of the Temple. Thick branches stretched out from the trunk about halfway up the tree. Nodding in satisfaction, Lyrith gripped the bark of the tree with his claws, and started climbing.

His going was slow, as the weights pulled at him, but he scaled the tree steadily, only stopping when reaching the branches to look for a path through the tree limbs. His chipped claws dug into the wood of the tree, giving him firm gripping as he went, not bothering to climb onto the branches to go the easy way up.

Lyr reached the highest part of the tree he could safely climb, and stepped onto the thickest branch he could find. He looked down at the garden below. The pool rippled in the gusty wind, right beside the tree, the bag just visible from where Lyrith sat at the base of the tree. Smirking, Lyrith untied the weights, and dropped them to the grassy ground below, the stones landing with a soft thud by the bag.

Lyrith moved over to the furthest edge of the branch as he could, inhaled the sweet, clean dawn air, and leapt off. He stretched out, enlongating his body as he sped down towards the pool, his body sleek and thin as an arrow. He hit the water with a small splash, a tiny spray of water spurting out from the point of impact. The white dragon glided down through the deep pool of water, swerving up and over to the edge of the pool. He surfaced, gasping for breath, and smiled as his heart slowed from its frantic drumming.

Lyrith paddled over to the tiny waterfall that splashed down at the far side of the pool, and climbed up onto the small ledge that jutted out under the water, just below the waterfall. Standing on his hind legs, Lyrith stepped under the waterfall, sighing as the cool water trickled over him, easing his muscles.

"Uh... Am I interupting something?" A shy whisper sounded from behind Lyr, and the white glanced over his shoulder to look at the speaker. Voltlyn stood anxiously at the edge of the pool, watching Lyr curiously.

"No, not really." The Albino grunted, and turned back, rubbing at a spot of dirt on his white scales.

"Oh... Okay then." Voltlyn murmured, taking a seat at the pool edge, dipping a paw into the water. She looked over at Lyrith, and flushed a bit. Lyrith stood unabashadly on his hind legs, water pouring in rivlutes over his thin lithe body. "S... so what are you d...doing down here?" She whispered, splashing the water with her paws nervously.

Lyrith turned to face her, and she felt blood rush to her face as he exposed his entire front to her. Lyrith noticed her blush and smirking, slipped back into the water, much to her relief.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came down here to do some exercising." He answered, paddling over to her.

"Oh." Voltlyn mumbled as he emerged from the water beside her, pulling himself up out of the pool, and sitting down next to her.

"What are you doing down here?" He asked, raising an eye ridge curiously.

"Um... Well I saw you flying, and I was wondering what you were doing, so I came down here..." Voltlyn replied softly, averting her eyes from his own, and looking over at the pool.

"I see." Lyrith murmured, feeling a smile tugging at his muzzle. Lyrith leaned back and flopped over onto his back, curling his forepaws over his stomach. Voltlyn looked over at the white, and then lay down beside him.

"The gardens are nice this time of day, don't you think?" Lyrith sighed, looking over to the topaz dragoness, his red eyes gleaming in the light of the moon.

Voltlyn nodded. "It is." She whispered whistfully, gazing up at the stars.

"How have you been doing?" Lyrith asked, returning his gaze to the sky. "Do you like Sav and the others?"

"They're very nice." Voltlyn said, smiling widely.

Lyrith nodded. "They are."

The two lay in silence for a while, watchin the sky slowly lighten until the sun peeked out over the horizion. Lyrith yawned and stretched, rolling over and climbed to his paws, shaking his head.

"Well, it'll be breakfast soon, I think it's about time I brought this training equipment back to the gym."

"I'll come too." Voltlyn said, getting up and looking over to Lyrith. Lyr shrugged and grabbed the bag of weights. Together they left the gardens and made their way back into the Temple. The halls of the Temple were achingly empty, with only the occasional servant to break the silence.

Lyrith and Voltlyn arrived at the gym, and slipped inside. They padded slowly across the dirt ground, passed the racing ring and the rockclimbing wall, and over to the racks of training equipment. Lyr placed the sack on the ground by the weights, and turned back to Voltlyn. He nodded back to the door. She returned the nod, and they left the dark gym at a trot.

Lyrith had just closed the door, and turned to head down towards the kitchen when a call stopped them.

"Voltlyn! There you are!"

Both Lyr and Voltlyn turned and stared at the black dragoness Danrah jogged down the hall towards them. Voltlyn's face fell as she saw the princess, and she looked away as Danrah came to a stop before them.

"Uh... Hey Danrah." Voltlyn whispered, her paws shuffling as she averted her eyes.

Danrah looked her up and down, and smiled wanly. "Hey Voltlyn. I had been hoping to see you again."

Voltlyn glanced back up at her, her expression downcast. "Sorry I abandoned you during your painting lessons..." She mummbled, her ocean blue eyes sad. Danrah shook her head.

"Oh don't worry about it, Voltlyn." Danrah sighed, shaking her head. "I heard what happened, and I know it's not your fault."

Voltlyn's face relaxed, and she smiled back gratefully. "Thank you." She whispered, and Danrah nodded.

"No problem." Danrah looked over at Lyrith and blinked in surprise. "Oh, so you're Lyrith, am I right?" She inquired. Lyrith nodded in response.

"I know what you did for Voltlyn, and I want to thank you." Danrah murmured, stepping up to Lyrith and smiling. "I've known something was wrong for the longest time, but I couldn't figure out how to help. So thank you, you truly are a kind hearted dragon, Lyrith."

Lyrith blinked in surprise as Danrah stepped away from him, still smiling. "Uh... Thanks." He murmured blankly.

Danrah giggled at his confused expression, and Voltlyn joined in. Lyrith cocked an eyeridge at this, and their chuckles redoubled. Once their mirth faded, Danrah cleared her throat, and looked Lyrith in the eye, her expression becoming anxious.

"Um... I also have a favour to ask of you." She whispered, her green eyes flicking away from his eyes for a moment, before darting back. Lyrith nodded, his expression unreadable. Danrah took a deep breath, and forged onwards. "Well, could you introduce me to your friends? I've been really eager to meet Savron and the others, but I've been a bit too shy to go up and do it myself. So could you...?"

"Sure, I don't see why not." Lyrith said, shrugging. Danrah relaxed, her smile returning brightly.

"Thank you." She whispered. Lyrith turned away and started down the hall, glancing back and gesturing for them to follow him.

"They should be up by now, and it'll be breakfast any minute now. We'll meet them at the kitchens."

"Great!" Danrah cried, following after the white dragon excitedly, Voltlyn taking up the rear.

The bell had rung by the time Lyr, Danrah and Voltlyn arrived at the kitchen, and the lineup at the buffet was just starting to pile up. The three joined the line and gathered up their meals, keeping a watch for Savron and the others. They had just left the line when Savron stepped into the room. Lyr motioned for Danrah to come with him, and together they padded over to the purple dragon, food trays in paw.

"Oh, hey Lyr. Who's the lovely dragoness you've got there, hm?" Savron chuckled as the white and black dragons came to a stop beside him.

"This is Danrah, she said she was really hoping to meet you."

"Oh really?" Savron grinned, glancing over at Danrah. She laughed and held out her paw.

"I'm Danrah, princess of the shadow dragon clans. It's nice to make your aquantince, Savron."

"Likewise." Savron chuckled, taking her paw and shaking it. He then picked up his plate and shovled a pile of savoury ribs and steaks onto it. "And why were you so eager to meet me?"

"Well," Danrah smirked as they left the line and headed towards their table. "I was hoping to meet you and your friends for a variety of reasons. Your group was one of the nicer ones here at the Temple, and the most active. I thought out of all the people I would like to be with, it would be you and your group."

"And?" Savron asked, taking a seat at the table, and looking over at the slim black dragoness.

"And that's all I'm telling you." Danrah snickered. "Though I will admit your adventures and escapades do have a great deal to do with it."

"Danrah? What are you doing here?"

Savron, Danrah, Voltlyn and Lyrith all glanced up to see Tirren taking a seat beside the black dragoness, looking at her puzzled.

"I was just making aquantices with Savron." Danrah chuckled, smiling up at Tirren. "And how have you been, Tirren?"

"Good thanks." The emerald green dragoness replied, smiling back.

"You know her?" Savron murmured to Tirren, and she nodded.

"We took leadership classes together, she's the only one there with higher marks than me."

"Really? A bigger smarty tail than Rin? Nice. Think you can give Sleet a run for his money?"

"Sav!" Tirren grumbled, smacking him upside the head. "Don't be so rude."

"I don't mind." Danrah giggled, putting a paw to her muzzle in amusement.

"Hey guys." A deep voice rumbled off to the side, and Igneous sat down beside Savron, grinning.

"Hey, Igneous." Savron murmured, winking. "Meet Danrah."

"Hello." Igneous said, smiling over at Danrah. The shadow dragoness beamed.

"Hello, Igneous. This may seem weird, but I really liked the way you took Torch down in the arena last time you fought. Absolutly amazing."

"Thanks." Igneous smirked, reaching out and gripping her outstretched paw.

"It's good to see you all getting along so well."

Everyone at the table jumped in shock as Inferna materialized beside them, a sneaky grin on her face.

"In... Inferna, what are you doing here?" Igneous asked dumbly as the Fire Guardian took a seat at their table. Inferna laughed.

"I'm actually here to ask Voltlyn to come with me, we have a surprise for her."

The topaz lightning dragoness started at the comment, her eyes widening with excitement. She stood, and Inferna stood along with her. They turned and made their way out of the kitchen. Lyrith glanced over to her, and back to his friends. Then he stood and followed after Voltlyn. Savron, shrugging, got up as well, the others following suit.

Inferna lead Voltlyn out into the halls, and through the corridors, weaving through the crowds and up a flight of stairs towards the council chamber. As they moved through the corridors, Voltlyn felt a quivering excitement building up in her.

_"Could it be...? Is... Is she really here?"_

Inferna stopped ouside the council chamber door, and pushed it open with a flourish. Voltlyn stepped in cautiously, and looked around. Inside all of the staff stood, Spyro, Flame, Ember, Darius, Serion, even Cadence. At the forefront however, the Guardians stood at attention, Cynder, Terrador, Cyril and Volteer. But it was the figure standing next to Volteer that caused Voltlyn to gasp, tears welling up in her eyes.

"MOM!" Voltlyn cried, racing over to embrace the thickly built four horned Topaz dragoness.

"Oh Voltlyn," The dragoness murmured as Voltlyn hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry. Had I known..."

"It's okay mom, it's not your fault." Voltlyn whispered, burying her face into her mother's chest.

"But it is." Voltlyn's mother choked, tears of her own trickling down her cheeks. "If I hadn't been such a easily manipulated fool, you would never have been... never have been..." The dragoness broked into quiet sobs, holding Voltlyn tightly to her. "It's all my fault!"

"It's okay mom, it's okay." Voltlyn mumbled, her eyes squeezed shut as she hugged her mother tightly.

Lyrith, Savron and the others stepped quietly into the council chamber, and watched the exchange with sad smiles. Inferna glanced over at them as she moved over to join the other Guardians, and nodded, grinning.

"Miss Dyama here was just requesting a leave of absence to come visit you when I arrived." Volteer coughed, clearing his throat. "Charah took quite a while to convince to let her go, but I managed."

"We explained to her your situation on the way back." Cyril said, looking over at the two with formality. "As you can see, she was quite distressed."

"Oh Voltlyn," Dyama whispered, loosening their embrace and looking down at Voltlyn sadly. "you didn't have to suffer so much for my sake."

"But I had to." Voltlyn returned, shaking her head. "You're the only mom I have, I couldn't lose you, I love you too much to let you get hurt when I could stop it."

Everyone watched the scene with glistening eyes, Inferna and Ember wiping beads of tears from their cheeks at the touching scene. Off at the back of the chamber Lyrith sat and looked on wistfully, his smile drawn and his red eyes forlorn.

"I don't deserve a daughter like you, Voltlyn." Dyama murmured, hugging Voltlyn tighly to her again. They broke away after a moment, and Voltlyn glanced back at the door, seeing Lyrith sitting along side Savron, Igneous Tirren and Danrah. Voltlyn smiled, and gestured them over.

"Mom, this is Lyrith, he's the one who rescued me from Torch." Voltlyn gestured to Lyrith as they came to a stop beside her. Dyama looked down at Lyrith, and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Lyrith. Thank you for bringing my daughter's suffering to light. I could never, ever repay your kindness."

Lyrith nodded, his muzzle twitching into a small smile. "You're welcome, I'm glad I could help."

Dyama grinned and gave Lyrith a quick hug, much to his shock. She broke away, and Lyrith stood in place, his eyes wide in surprise. Voltlyn giggled at his expression, much to his embarrassment.

"And who are these?" Dyama asked, glancing around at the others beside Voltlyn.

"These are my friends." Voltlyn said, her small grin joyful. "This is Danrah, Igneous, Tirren and Savron."

"Pleased to meet all of you." Dyama said graciously, looking each one in the eye and shaking their paws. When she came to Savron, her eyes lighted up in shock, surprised to see the purple. Savron beamed and took her paw, shaking it firmly.

"And now that Dyama is safely in our custody, we can send Torch over to the kings for his punishment." Cynder announced, smirking. Dyama and Voltlyn looked over at the black dragoness, and the other Guardians nodded in agreement. Without a word Flame moved over to a door off to the side of the chamber and slipped through it. Several moments later he emerged with several guardsmen, leading Torch bound and chained behind them.

Terrador glared over at the red prince, and guestured over to Flame. "Please escort the prisoner to the train. I will bring the documents of accusation down to the train within the hour."

Flame nodded, and tugging on the chain attached to Torch's collar, started leading Torch out of the room. Upon him entering the room, Voltlyn had pressed up against her mother, her body shivering as she laid eyes on her considerably thinner and dirtier tormentor. Dyama draped a wing over her, and watched Torch with hate filled eyes as he passed. He was almost out of the door when Dyama broke away from Voltlyn, stammped over to Torch, and slapped him hard across the face.

"OW! FUCK!" Torch shouted, clutching at his face and looking up at Dyama, who quivered in righteous anger. "WHAT WAS THAT F...!"

Dyama slapped him again, sending him staggering back from the force of it. "That's for my daughter!" She hissed, turning away from Torch and padding back over to Voltlyn, who gazed up at her with thanks and wonder. Cynder and Inferna grinned at each other as Dyama took her place back beside Voltlyn.

Flame smirked and tugged Torch's chain a little harder. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Torch glared back at Voltlyn and Dyama, and snarled wordlessly. He then turned his back and stomped out of the chamber. Inferna let out a long sighed once he was out of sight, and shook her head.

"At least now justice can be done for his crimes..."

"NO! I **refuse** to believe it!"

Everyone started and turned to the speaker, startled by the vehemence in the words. Wintra stormed into the room, tears of rage beading her eyes as she stomped over to the Guardians.

"Torch would never, ever do something to deserve this! Never!" Wintra screamed, stopping in the middle of the floor, paws braced wide apart. Her perfect face was screwed up in an expression of absolute fury.

"Wintra, please settle down." Terrador murmured, moving forward to calm the enraged ice dragoness. "Proof has been brought before us, there is no doubt..."

"NO!" She howled, a cloud of of crystal snow billowing out from her muzzle. "You're wrong you ignorant rock head! You don't know Torch like I do!"

Terrador started back, alarmed by her venomous words.

"Wintra, conrol yourself!" Cyril growled. The ice dragoness whirled on the Guardian, fangs bared.

"Control myself? CONTROL MYSELF! You listen to me, Frosty, if you don't let him go this instant, I'll do everything in my power to ruin your school and your reputation! No selfrespecting drake will ever set paw here again!"

The staff watched the young dragoness, shocked and stunned at her brash words, muzzles agape in disbelief. Cynder stepped forward, her expression furious.

"Wintra, if you do not contain yourself, we will be forced to..."

"Your threats don't scare me, you black bitch!" Wintra sneered. "I'm not going to listen to you! Some may have forgotten what you've done but that doesn't mean I've forgotten you used to be Malefor's **whore**!"

Everyone gasped in shock and horror. Cynder took a step back, eyes going wild. Her muzzle opened to respond but nothing came out. Cynder took another step back, and another eyes horrified as Wintra continued her venomous tirade.

"I bet you still sometimes fantasize about those days. The murder, the destruction. Eagerly waiting to suck on the Dark Master's big, purple, co..."

The ice dragoness was abrutply cut of as Savron leaped at her, his emerald eyes blazing, and smashed her across the face with a taloned paw.

"NEVER TALK ABOUT MOM LIKE THAT!"

Wintra was thrown to the ground by the blow. The staff took a sharp intake of breath, surprised by the sudden and violent reaction. Savron stomped over to Wintra, who was trying to get up. He raised his paw, and struck her again, his face a mask of rage.

"Never. Say. That. Again!" He snarled, hitting Wintra in the face with each word. The staff took several steps back as Savron's scales darkened, whisps of darkness seeping over him as he hit the dragoness again, and again.

"Savron! Stop!" Igneous exclaimed, taking a step forward but Savron didn't respond. Finally, he uttered a gutteral roar, and the shadows that flickered over his body swallowed up his purple hide, turning them midnight black. He raised his paw one last time, and struck down at Wintra, his talons wreathed in purple flame.

Wintra screamed in agony as her face came alight, the purple flames buring away at her scales. She reeled back, the bright convexity fire clinging to her, searing her flawless features. The staff cried out in panic as Savron was overcome, and backed up as far as they could from the blackened purple.

Voltlyn cowered against her mother, Dyama herself was wide eyed in terror, unable to do anything but watch as the black scaled Savro turn his glowing white eyes upon them. A malicious grin spread across his face, and he laughed maniacly.

"What **power**! I've never felt so alive in my life!"

"Savron! Snap out of it!" Igneous pleaded, stepping towards his friend. Savron sneered.

"Savron, snap out of it. Pweeze!" The dark dragon mocked sarcastically. He laughed again, inhaled and spat out a blob of purple energy at the red. Igneous only had time to cover his face before the attack detonated in front of him, sending him flying through the air. He landed with a thump, winded, his crimson scales burnt in several places. The blast sent a wave of dark purple energy washed over the room, and the staff flinched back at its touch, hackles raised.

Lyrith cringed as it passed over him, but blinked when it left him feeling little more than light headed. His white scales tingled in the aftermath of the wave, and he felt an odd, yet pleasant sensation fill him, leaving his vision swimming.

"Is that all, Iggy? Not going to whine anymore?" Savron chuckled darkly, padding over to Igneous casually, his darkened scales sucking up the light around him, giving him an aura of shadows. He stopped and looked down at his friend, grimacing.

"You know, sometimes I hate you, Iggy. A lot." He hissed, grabbing the larger dragon with a paw, and dragging him up to eye level. "Everyone likes you, Iggy. You're the goody four paws. The drake who gets the high grades and who everybody loves." Savron raised his paw and smacked Igneous across the face. Igneous cried out, and crumpled to the ground, Savron gripped him again and heaved him back up. Ember started forward, but Inferna stopped her, shaking her head, eyes fearful. Aquina rushed forward and pulled Wintra out of the way, and tried to put out the fires on her face, burning herself in the process.

"Every female that I try to date inevitably loses interest in me, and turns their eyes to **you**. They swoon when you enter the room, talk to **you** about things. But you know what I hate about you most of all!"

Igneous looked up at Savron, stunned and horrified as his friend beat and berated him. The purple dragon didn't wait for a response, and spat into the red dragon's eye.

"That you're too **thick** to even notice it!" Savron abruptly lifted Igneous into the air, and tossed him across the room like a ragdoll. Igneous hit the wall and collapsed onto the floor, gasping in pain. Voltlyn glanced fearfully over at Lyrith, and blinked in surprise. The white dragon was staring off into space, his red eyes blank, completely oblivious to the fight going on before him.

"It's so aggravating to see the dragonesses **I'm** interested in chase after an oblivious fool! It makes me so mad!" Savron moved over to Igneous, his expression spiteful. "And do you know what I do to people who make me angry?" Savron hissed. Igneous shook his head frantically, trying to drag himself away from the corrupted purple. Savron grinned wickedly. "Well, you're about to find out, aren't you?"

Igneous flinched back as Savron raised his paw, smirking widely. The staff gasped as the darkened purple's paw burst into dark purple flames.

"ENOUGH!" A voice boomed, brilliant light eveloping the area. Everyone turned to face the source of the light, squinting past the radience to see who it was. Spyro stood tall and proud, his scales now pure, untainted white. Blinding light undulated from him in waves, pouring through the room, bathing everything in its brilliance. Savron flinched away from the light, hissing in protest. Spyro gazed down at his son, his now ivory white eyes blazing, and brushed past Lyrith as he moved towards Savron.

"That is enough, Savron." Spyro murmured, stepping up to the younger purple, who quivered as he neared. Spyro reached out with a paw, and laid it on Savron's head. At his touch, the darkness melted away, revealing the purple scales underneath. Savron shuddered as the shadows faded away, seeping off his body like slime being washed clean.

Once all of the darkness was gone, Spyro removed his paw from Savron's head, and the purple drake slumped heavily to the floor, unconcious. Spyro sighed tiredly, and the light vanished, returning his scales to to their original purple hue.

"Thank the ancestors that that's over." He mumbled, shaking his head. He helped Igneous to his paws and scooped Savron up, draping his son over his back. He turned back to the staff, who had relaxed now that Savron had returned to normal. Spyro cast a quick glance over to Wintra. The ice dragoness lay whimpering on the ground, paws clutched to her face, the purple flames having gone out. Aquina murmured soothing words, all the while trickling a steady stream of water over her wounds. Spyro shook his head, and made his way back over to the staff.

"Lyrith... Are you okay?" Voltlyn asked, moving over to the Albino. Lyrith blinked, exiting his trance. He opened his muzzle to respond, when he found he couldn't speak. A great weight settled in his chest, taking his breath away. His vision doubled, and his limbs shook uncontrollably as nausea twisted his gut. He stared around, confused as dozens of dragons swam before him. He took a step forward, and toppled over.

He heard Voltlyn scream, but it was so distant that he hardly noticed it. Blackness overtook his vision as he lay sprawled on the floor, and it wasn't long before sweet oblivion claimed him, wrapping the white in its warm, empty embrace.

* * *

The infirmiry was dead quiet, the cots empty and the room still. The clean white room was dark, the light from the windows dimmed by the curtains drawn across them. At one side of the room several figures sat close together, stoically silent. Voltlyn fidgetd nervously beside her mother, eyes downcast. Sitting on either side of the pair, Inferna and Ember sat, eyes occasionally flickering to the nearest of the three shrouded cots. Across from the four, on the other side of the room, Spyro and Cynder sat, Savron wedged between them. He gazed down at the floor shamefully, his expression worn and horrified.

The drapes surrounding the beds ruffled, and Aquina stepped out, sighing. Both Voltlyn's and Savron's heads jerked up at her appearance, and the purple shifted on his cushioned seat, moving to stand. Cynder stopped him with a paw, and glanced firmly down at him. He balked and stayed seated.

"How are they?" Ember asked, her voice hushed. Aquina brushed at her paws and glanced over at the pink dragoness, her expression blank.

"Igneous's wounds are minor, nothing that a life crystal and a day in bed won't fix. As for Wintra, well... She'll live, but the scars will never heal."

"And Lyrith?" Inferna murmured, concern edging her voice. Aquina shook her head.

"I'm not sure, he seems perfectly fine. His body was strained a bit, but there were no injuries on him at all."

"Then why did he just collapse like that?" Voltlyn cut in, her expression a mask of confused worry. Aquina shrugged.

"My best guess is that being an Albino, Lyrith is more vulnerable to the power of Convexity. Being so close to one using it likely strained his body and mind, causing him to black out. If this is the case, then he'll be out of bed no worse off than waking up from a deep sleep after a day of hard exercise."

"Good." Inferna sighed, relaxing in her seat. On the other side of the room Savron closed his eyes, and put his head in his paws. Spyro looked down at the young purple with pity. He draped a wing over him and grinned.

"Don't worry Sav, everything will be okay."

Cynder gave her son an affectionate pat on the back, and Savron gave a small, sad smile. He looked up at Aquina, and cleared his throat.

"Can I... uh... can we see them now?" He asked, his voice meek. Aquina looked over at Savron, and nodded once. Relieved, Savron sat up and made his way over to the cots, and slipped through the drapes. Inside Igneous, Wintra and Lyrith all lay on seperate cots, spaced evenly apart from each other. The red dragon's body was lightly bandaged, and several pillows were stacked around him to keep him in place. Lyrith lay on his back, unmoving, with only the rise and fall of his chest to show he was still alive. Lastly, Savron's gaze fell to Wintra. She lay on her back as well, wings spread eagle beside her. She twisted fitfully on her bed, back and forth. Her entire face was bandaged, wrapped with white cloth.

Igneous's grey eyes opened as Savron entered, and he gazed over at his friend solemnly. Savron stood at the edge of the space, his paws twisting in anxiety. Ember and Voltlyn stepped into the space, and stopped as Savron took a nervous step towards the red, stopping beside the bed.

"Are... Are you okay, Igneous?" Savron murmured, averting his eyes. Igneous nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." He replied, his grey eyes flickering away from Savron and over to his mother.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Savron mummbled, closing his eyes and then returning his emerald gaze to the red's face. "I'm so, so sorry."

Igneous smiled, and shook his head, looking back into Savron's distressed face.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault." Igneous said soothingly, reaching out with a paw and placing it on Savron's shoulder.

"But it is..." Savron whispered, shaking the paw off of his shoulder. Igneous frowned, and shook his head again.

"No, it isn't."

"You don't understand!" Savron shouted, startling everyone, including himself. He took a deep breath to steady himself, and started again. "You don't understand, you don't know what it's like to fall like that. It is my fault. I wasn't taken over by some dark evil side of myself. That was **me**, I knew **exactly** what I was doing at the time. I meant every word I said when it happened."

Igneous stared at Savron in shock, and the purple turned away from Igneous, his expression ashamed.

"When it happened, I felt... I felt so free, like nothing mattered anymore. Like there was only myself and nothing else. I... I felt drunk almost, only clear headed at the same time. All of my emotions were just out of control, I was so angry that everything I did and said felt right."

Igneous watched Savron rambled on, his expression turning from surprise to sadness.

"And... and I just felt like I could do anything without concequence. I know that's not right, but I couldn't..."

"Sav." Igneous said, cutting his purple friend's rant off. "It's okay. Even if that's the case, it still wasn't **you**. The real you is silly, fun to talk to, and a flirt. **Not** an evil dragon who hurts his friends just because he could, or because he was angry."

Savron glanced back over to Igneous, his expression softening. "You... You really think that?"

Igneous nodded, his expression resolute. Savron's relief was palpable and he grinned over at his friend, moving to stand beside the cot once more. Igneous took Savron's paw firmly, and shook it.

"If it helps, I accept your apology."

"Thanks." Savron murmured, his expression relaxing. Smiling, Ember moved up to her son and embraced him. Igneous hugged back, patting his mother on the back. Voltlyn moved passed the trio and over to Lyrith's cot, and pressed a paw to the plate of scales on his forehead worriedly. His red eyes snapped open and Voltlyn jumped back with a squeal. Ember, Igneous and Savron all looked over to the two, eyes wide with fright at the sudden noise.

Lyrith groaned and rolled over on his cot, blinking wearily. Once he had cleared his vision, he glanced around, puzzled.

"Where... Why am I here?" He asked, looking over to Voltlyn, confused. Voltlyn sighed in relief.

"You blacked out, don't you remember?" Voltlyn murmured, looking Lyr straight in the eyes. The white dragon frowned, and pursed his muzzle as the thought back.

"The last thing I remember was Wintra freaking out about Torch, Savron beating her up... him going dark?" Lyrith paused as he struggled to recolect the event, and then nodded. "Savron went dark He attacked Igneous, and then nothing."

"Do you feel okay?" Inferna questioned, coming through the curtains and looking the Albino over quizically. Lyrith nodded.

"Besides a little stiff and itchy, alright I guess." Lyr grumbled, moving to get off the cot. Inferna twitched, her paw moving slightly, but let him get off the bed and stretch.

"It's good to see you're okay." Savron said, grinning as he moved over to Lyrith. Lyr gazed at him, an eye ridge raised.

"Are **you** okay?" The white asked skepically. Savron looked away and nodded. Lyrith smirked. "Good."

"Can we come in?" A soft voice echoed around the infirmiry.

"Yes dears."

A soft pattering of paw steps sounded throughout the chamber, and then Danrah's head peeked in from behind the drapes. She grinned upon seeing the group of dragons standing and sitting, all relatively unharmed.

"Oh good, I was hoping I would find you all here." The shadow dragoness stepped into the shrouded area, and was followed soon after by Tirren.

"Are you okay, Igneous?" Tirren murmured, rushing over to his bedside, Savron stepping aside to let her though. Igneous nodded, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I am. And so is Savron."

Tirren looked over at Savron, her expression a mixture of relief and anger. Savron looked away from her, backing away a step.

"Don't give him too hard a time." Igneous pleaded quietly with Tirren. "He's pretty down already."

Tirren took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "That's good to hear." The emerald dragoness said, smiling at the purple dragon.

Savron nodded graciously. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"It's okay, Sav, you didn't really mean to." Danrah whispered, moving up to him and affectionately patting him on the shoulder. "It's hard to control yourself when you've fallen."

"Which is exactly why we must teach you control." Terrador grumbled, pushing passed the curtains and looking down at Savron, his dark eyes firm, though not unkind. "Your parents have mastered control over their darkness, and so you must too."

"Really? More lessons!" Savron complained, exasperated.

"This is **not** something to whine about." Terrador growled, and Savron's muzzle snapped shut. "This is a very serious matter that must be addressed. You don't want to lose control again and possibly kill your friends, now do you!"

"N...No." Savron mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"Then starting tomorrow you'll come down to the training ground for your lessons."

"Yes Terrador." Savron sighed, defeated. The Earth Guardian nodded in satisfation and turned away, leaving the shrouded area and out of the infirmiry.

Igneous gave Savron a friendly pat, and smiled. "Well, it could be worse I suppose."

"How exactly do you think that?" Savron asked, dubiously.

"Well for starters they could take away your allowance. Ground you for a couple years. Double your homework..."

**Characters created Dardarax:**

Savron's Gang (Savron, Lyrith, Sleet, Igneous, Tirren, Voltlyn, Typhous, Zindy, Danrah)

Temple staff (Inferna, Serion, Cadence, Darius)

Torch, Wintra.

Aiel.

Well, I'm back from my vacation at my uncle's cabin, and I've got this for all of you: An extra long chapter! :D This chapter is essentially filler, with a bunch of scenes that wouldn't fit anywhere else all packed together. I think it turned out surprisingly well considering. =)

Speaking of scenes, this chapter features a scene given/inspired by a suggestion from Scrinn99. It was the scene where Savron goes dark. So a big thanks goes out to him, for that wonderful suggestion that fit so perfectly with my story. ^.^ Also, there's two references to Kuroy's story, Crystalized Snowrain which is based off of Dark Legacy. If you find either of them, you get a box of imaginary chocolates. :P

Now that all that character development and filler scenes have been dealt with, it's time to shake things up a bit, don't you all agree? ;)


	21. Calamity

Chapter 21. Calamity

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do not own Spyro, Cynder, Warfang, the Temple, or any other character or place that belongs to the Spyro... Do I seriously still have to do this? I mean come on! It's so old now!_

_Savron: Hell yes! It's one of our favourite parts!_

_Still a disclaimer: Fine. That belongs to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom. Also, said characters are big fat jerks, who won't feed me unless I do what they say. In addition, Savron is actually a fairy princess who... No! Not the collar! Aaaggghhhh!_

Thunder cracked over the skies of Warfang as the cacophonous roar of pelting rain pounded upon the great stone city. The rain fell straight down, unwavered by even the slightest breeze. At the very center of Warfang the mighty palace of the five kings stood, its spires towering up and nearly touching the black clouds boiling in the sky. It's countless windows shone with golden torchlight, speckling it's bleak grey walls with colour.

Deep in the bowels of the palace, at the very heart of the stronghold, court was in session. The chamber was vast and cavernous with a high domed ceiling and many marble arches. The chamber was circular, with tall bleachers for the council of the realms resided along the sides of the chamber. The bleachers were packed with bodies, people from every race. Dragons, moles, felines, canines and avian, all in attendance for this momentous event. Each sat on a different level of the bleachers. The avians roosting at the top, the moles right below them, and the canines and felines mingled together in the middle. The dragons sat on the lowest levels of the bleachers, their seats lowered and cushioned so they could sit comfortably on their haunches.

At the back of the chamber, upon a large platform, five massive thrones stood. Each throne was of different design. On the far left was a small small platform itself, with a tiny staircase leading up to it. Upon the little stage an equally small mole sat, robed all in blue and bearing a metal hammer easily the size of his body. He hefted it with ease, his tiny appearance concealing his great strength.

On the other side of the stage a great perch was placed, plated all in gold with cushions wrapped around the pole that stretched out horizontally across it. There a great hawk stood, a pair of small spectacles resting on its beak, wings folded behind it's back. He browsed the book placed in front of him, flipping through the pages with its massive talons.

Two high backed thrones sat on either side of the center throne, and while the thrones were of the same shape, they were vastly different in appearance. One throne was lavishly decorated in cushions and shrouds of deep green cloth. A thickly built wolf lounged upon it, one leg draped carelessly over an arm of his throne as he picked his fangs with a claw. His pelt was an aged grey, and his one good eye gazed lazily at the ceiling.

The other throne was stark of comforts, no cushions to ease the discomfort of its hard, flat stone. However the grey stone was carved with the images of hunters and wild animals. Prowlus, the old orange feline sat ridged on his seat, eyes hard. His claws tapped the stone arm of his throne impatiently, the muscles of his muzzle twitching in irritation. The center throne was little more than an elevated slab of stone, with a massive crimson mattress sitting atop it.

Pyron was an enormous dragon, made even more so by the stiff way he lay upon his throne. He stood easily a head and a half taller than the next largest dragon in the room, his muscled body as hard and chiseled as any statue. His polished crimson scales gleamed in the bright firelight of the room, and old battle scars crisscrossed his form like a maze etched into his body. A golden cape was draped over one flank, and thick gold chains hung from his four black horns.

Pyron's yellow-orange eyes were fixed on the circular bowl carved into the center of the floor, his expression grim. There a troop of armoured guards stood behind a chained and bound red dragon, who stared solemnly at the floor. Torch's eyes never rose to meet his father's, and he made no move as the room scrutinized him in eerie silence.

Finally, the last of the council arrived, a slim grey wind dragoness. She hurried over to her spot in the bleachers, and took her seat awkwardly, looking around at her peers anxiously, before turning her gaze upon the prince.

"Cyrine, you read the charges." Pyron rumbled, shattering the quiet. Cyrine, the hawk king, cleared his throat, and started reading from the documents placed to his left.

"Ahem. Prince Torch here by has been charged with multiple cases of assault and rape, both of the first degree, blackmail and the enslavement of another being. The Guardians of the Dragon Temple declared the prosecuted guilty of all charges upon examining the victim's injuries, hearing the victim's confession to the charges, and the testimony of a witness to the acts. What does his majesty King Pyron have to say on this matter?"

Pyron looked up from Torch and at the surrounding monarchs. Prowlus looked the giant red dragon in the eye, and nodded.

"This is a dragon matter, we will have no part in it."

"Aye." The wolf agreed, swinging his leg off of the arm of his throne, and slouching back into the cushions. "He be yah son, yah deal with 'im."

"I concur." The mole piped in, gesturing his ascent with his hammer.

Pyron nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Prowlus, Diatrax, Albiard." The dragon king murmured, nodding to each of the tree in turn. He then returned his gaze to Torch, who looked up at his father, relief flooding his features.

"Father." He spoke, forceful but not demanding. "You can't really believe these charges? It's just a hoax that Albino rat cooked up to get me in trouble. If anyone..."

"Be silent, Torch." Pyron growled, his fangs flashing in the firelight. Torch's relieved expression cracked, nervous apprehension filling his eyes. Pyron cleared his throat, and without looking away from Torch, called out in a booming voice.

"Kohl, Blaze. I know you are listening. Come over here." The dragon king's ringing voice echoed in the silence. After several heartbeats, two dark red dragons stepped out from behind a cluster of pillars, and strode purposefully towards Pyron. They were large, though Blaze, the younger of the two, was slightly bigger than Kohl. Their golden silk shrouds ruffled in their wake as they moved, and circlets of gold crowned each of their heads.

Kohl bore his fathers black horns and his stout, powerful muzzle was pursed shut in a tight line. Blaze's six, elegant golden horns gleamed in the fire light, and his beak-like muzzle, which normally hinted at a secret smile, was drawn and stiff. Neither looked towards their half brother, their vibrant green eyes held pointedly away from him.

They came to a stop beside Pyron, but did not take a seat.

"What is it father?" Kohl asked, looking to the red dragon monarch on his right. Pyron cleared his throat.

"If you were king, what would you decide, given the circumstances?" He asked, gesturing down to Torch with a paw.

All three of his sons froze. Torch stared up at his father with a mix of horror and hope, while Kohl and Blaze looked at each other with apprehension.

"Um... Well..."

"Take your time." Pyron rumbled, never taking his eyes off of Torch. Kohl and Blaze quickly glanced down at Torch, and then turned to each other and started whispering. Their discussion was interrupted when a pink dragoness from the bleaches stood up and howled at Pyron.

"NO! You cannot decide Torch's fate like this! He's your son, Pyron! Our son! There should be an investigation! A full trial! A..."

"SILENCE CHARAH!" Pyron bellowed, getting to his paws. "Be seated and be grateful I do not drag you up here on charges of illegal enterprises!" Charah flinched back at his words, and Pyron sneered down at her. "Yes, I am** fully** aware of what you've been doing, and it is because of **your** gambling rigs that this was allowed happened."

The pink dragoness slowly took her seat, eyes wide at the declaration, and cast Torch an apologetic glance.

Pyron snorted, sat back down, and turned his attention to Blaze and Kohl. "Continue, and do not let that wench distract you."

Kohl nodded, and Blaze smiled. They turned back to their discussion earnestly, and a tense quiet filled the room as everyone waited for the two to make their decision. Half a dozen minutes passed before the two brothers nodded and turned back to their father.

"Well..." Kohl began, clearing his throat, and forcibly keeping his eyes away from Torch. "Given the charges and the evidence given," Kohl looked over at Cyrine, who nodded. "we have decided that the best punishment would be..." Kohl's eyes flicked over to Torch, who gazed up at him piteously. Kohl swallowed hard, and struggled to speak.

"We decided the best punishment would be lifelong banishment from the realms." Blaze finished for his older brother, rushing the ending. Torch flinched at his brothers' decree, and tensed nervously as he waited to hear what his father had to say.

Pyron nodded solemnly, his eyes closed. "I agree entirely."

"NO!" Torch roared, eyes wild. He lurched forward, but the guards surrounding him restrained him. "You can't do this! Please father! Please!"

"Have mercy!" Charah pleaded from the stands, head in her paws, weeping. "Have mercy! He's innocent! I just know it!"

Pyron ignored the two, and continued his decree, his voice growing into a booming roar to drown the two out.

"I HEREBY BANISH YOU, TORCH, FROM WARFANG, THE TEMPLE, AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES AND COUTRY SIDE FOR THE REMAINDER OF YOUR LIFE. ON PAIN OF **DEATH**!"

Kohl and Blaze stared at their father in horror, realizing it had been their decision that had determined their half brother's fate.

"AND FURTHER MORE!" Pyron bellowed, his massive body tense as he delivered the final decree, his eyes screwed shut. "I DISOWN YOU FROM THE ROYAL FAMILY, AND STRIP YOU OF YOUR RANK AND POSSESSIONS FOR BETRAYING THE TRUST GIVEN TO OUR FAMILY BY OUR PEOPLE!"

"No no NO NO!" Torch screamed, his body shaking as he fought to get closer to Pyron, tears falling from his yellow eyes. "Father! Please don't!"

Pyron's eyes opened, and turned to Kohl and Blaze, refusing to meet Torch's gaze. "I have only two sons now." Pyron murmured, his eyes filled with distant tears. "Cast this wretch out of our kingdom, and should he ever return, end his miserable life." Pyron declared, swallowing his tears and turning his stoney eyes upon Torch.

The guards surrounded Torch, and dragged the former prince out of the chamber, kicking and screaming. The council looked on, some shocked, others hard faced as the fallen prince vanished out of the courtroom door, Charah wailing the entire time.

The massive stone doors of the chamber slammed shut, and the canine king, Diatrax, glanced over at Pyron his eye gleaming coldly.

"Ah, that be a very lenient punishment, Pyron. Normally we would have sentenced the criminal to death for such an offense."

"Even I cannot send my own child to hang." Pyron whispered hoarsely, closing his eyes, the tears finally starting to fall. "And I doubt any of you could say differently."

Diatrax grimaced, but said nothing more. Cyrine and Albiard nodded in agreement, watching the red dragon with sorrow. Prowlus looked as if he was about to argue the point, but his eyes flickered over to the bleachers. There, a young orange female cheetah stood watching the room with interest, her thin gold tiara sparkling in the torch light. Prowlus's mouth snapped shut, his eyes softening.

A low murmur of conversation rumbled under the sound of Charah's weeping. The nobles of the court eyed each other anxiously, murmuring about the event they had just witnessed. Pyron let out a long, shuddering sigh, and put his head in his forepaws.

The two red dragon princes glanced at their father, and then at each other. The dragon king looked up, and blinked his tears away, his expression sombre. He climbed off of his throne, and turned to his two remaining children.

"Come, Kohl, Blaze. Let us go and mourn the loss of a family member." The giant red turned away, into the hall that lead from his platform, and into the palace. The two brothers followed after Pyron, heads bowed in grief.

The kings watched them go, expressions grim, understanding the pain of the father who sent his son away, and knew he would never see him again.

* * *

The birds sang joyfully in the Temple gardens, flitting from tree to tree in the warm spring day. The sun was high in the sky, and only a handful of puffy white clouds dotted the brilliant blue sky. A soft breeze rustled the trees, swaying them in a slow, rhythmic motion.

Lyrith walked through the Temple halls, a feeling of contentment warming him. He breathed in the sweet fresh air, glad to be living the life he was living now. He passed through the crowds, moving unhindered among the students and servants. Occasionally a student would look his way, but it was never the hate filled look he was so used to. Now their gazes were filled with open respect and often admiration.

The Albino let out a long, pleasant sigh as he left the corridor and moved out into the great hall. He slipped through the mass of bodies to a wide open space, where he stopped.

_"Now then,"_ Lyrith mused, his red eyes roaming the great hall, passing over its many wonders. _"where should I..."_ Lyrith's gaze fell upon Voltlyn and Danrah moving through the crowd towards the gardens, and he stopped, his eyes intent. They were burdened with sacks of canvas sheets, brushes, bottles and wooden tripods as they made their way out of the great hall.

Lyrith raised an eyeridge and followed after them, his curiosity piqued. They left the Temple and stepped out into a small garden off to the side of the Temple entrance. They shrugged off their sacks of paint, brushes and canvas, and started setting up a pair of tripods. Lyr moved up behind them, red eyes sparkling.

"You two painting?" He asked quizzically. Voltlyn jumped in surprise and whirled to face Lyr.

"O... oh. Hey Lyrith." She murmured, once she saw the white hided dragon.

"Yep, Voltlyn's teaching me how to paint." Danrah answered, smiling jovially.

Lyrith looked over at her curiously. "Really? Do you mind if I watch?"

"Uh... well... I guess not..." Voltlyn mumbled, glancing down at the ground anxiously, flushing slightly. Lyrith grinned and helped the two set up, placing the tripods up, and arranging the paints and brushes. Once he was done, Lyr sat down on his haunches nearby, and watched as they chose their paints and started tracing the scene.

They painted a small grove with a single tree dominating the center. A bed of blue flowers lay around the tree like a rug. Voltlyn started outlining the scene, and occasionally glanced over to Danrah, giving her tips and pointers. Sometimes, the lightning dragoness stepped over and showed the shadow dragoness how to paint a certain line or texture of the painting. Lyrith watched with interest as the canvas was gradually coloured in, the paintings slowly coming to life.

"I never realized how difficult this was." Danrah grumbled, trying for the fifth time to paint in a nice looking branch on the tree. Voltlyn glanced over to the black dragoness and grinned softly.

"It just takes time and a lot of practice." Voltlyn put her brush down and moved over to the black dragoness, eying her painting closely. "You're doing very well though. It took me a long time to get as good as you are now."

Danrah blushed and giggled in response to the compliment, her tail flicking back and forth in pleasure.

"Uh... well... you've helped me out a lot too."

Voltlyn shrugged noncommittally, and returned to her own painting. Lyrith eyed the two paintings, his red eyes burning with interest. Danrah's was fairly rough, the lines and curves sketchy and colours stark against each other. Voltlyn's was nearly flawless when compared to the scene she was painting, the colours blending together seamlessly to form the image she worked on. It seemed as if she had taken the landscape and imprinted it directly onto the canvas.

"Could I try?" Lyrith asked, sitting up and stretching fluidly. Voltlyn looked over at the Albino, a bit surprised, and then shrugged.

"I don't see why not." She murmured softly. She turned to her painting, and removed it from the tripod gently. She tacked it to a small plank of wood and leaned it up against a tree. She then picked up a fresh sheet and placed it on the tripod, using the grips to hold it in place. She backed up and nodded to Lyr, who stepped up to the tripod and selected a brush. He looked over his canvas, standing on his hind paws, and examined the scene, selecting his colours with his keen red eyes. Then he set to work, dipping his brush into the bottle of brown paint.

Danrah continued her own painting, now aided entirely by Voltlyn. She occasionally glanced over at Lyrith, curious to see how he was doing. He painted methodically, trying to emulate Voltlyn's easy brush strokes, his eyes hard and intent on his canvas, only looking away to examine his scene. After nearly a dozen minutes of painting, Danrah couldn't hold herself in anymore, and put her brush down.

"What** are** you painting, Lyrith?" She asked, suppressing a giggle. Lyrith frowned and glanced between his painting and the tree they were facing.

"Well... I'm painting the same thing you are..." He answered slowly, as if unsure of exactly what she was asking. Danrah snickered, and moved over to Lyr and examined his painting. Voltlyn, curious, also padded over. What she saw caused her to clamp her forepaws over her muzzle to stifle her giggles.

Lyrith's canvas was a disastrous meshing of colours.

"**That's** supposed to be a **tree**!" Danrah exclaimed, her snickers growing to wild giggles. Lyrith's frown deepened to a small pout, and he nodded.

"Yes. See, this is the tree trunk..." He motioned to the brown strip that coloured the center of his painting. "this is the leaves..." He pointed to the mess of green paint that topped the 'tree trunk'. "and this is the flowers." Lyrith gestured to the blobby blue smudge that surrounded the base of the 'tree'.

Danrah struggled to keep from laughing out right, and Voltlyn smiled weakly.

"Well... it could be a... lovely interpretive painting..."

Lyrith snorted, and the two females finally broke into peals of laughter, holding their sides as they gasped for breath between guffaws.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me what time it is?" A formal yet anxious voice inquired, cutting into the laughter and causing the three students to turn around. A thickly built deep crimson dragon stood politely on the Temple door steps. His dark brown mane framed his face and neck, with two large bat ears poking out of his fur. A cat tail swished back and forth nervously from beneath his cape, and his leathery wings twitched, as if ready for flight.

Lyrith blinked in surprise that the sight of the strange dragon, not sure what to say. Danrah wiped her tears away, and glanced up at the sky.

"Well, judging by the position of the sun, I would say roughly three... Four o'clock?"

The dragon sighed in relief, shaking his head. "That's good to hear. My caravan won't be leaving for some time." The dragon opened his eyes, and caught sight of Lyrith staring at him curiously. The dragon blinked in shock, and then grinned.

"Ah! So you must be the Albino I've heard so much about! It's good to meet you. My name is Gorgulline, the Ambassador of the feran kingdom." The feran stretched out an ink stained paw, and Lyrith took it dubiously."

"Um... Lyrith." Lyr replied blankly, unsure of what else to say when addressed so formally.

The feran nodded in approval. "The Guardians seem very proud of you, Lyrith, especially Inferna. Even Cyril has said some good things on your behalf."

"Re... really?" Lyrith muttered incredulously. Gorgulline nodded.

"That he did. Now if you don't mind, I've got to get going. As they say, on time is twenty minutes early!" Gorgulline turned, and waving his tail in farewell made his way towards the Temple gates. The three stared after him curiously, Lyr's terrible painting forgotten.

"Why haven't I seen him around before?" Lyrith asked, glancing over at the two dragonesses.

Danrah shrugged. "Nobody has seen much of him around the Temple. Even I've only seen him three time before this during the year he's stayed here. He doesn't leave his rooms much."

"Ah." Lyrith grunted. He stared after the feran ambassador for a moment, and then shrugged. The white dragon turned to his painting and took up a brush. He dipped it in a bottle of paint, prepared to get back to work.

"Here, let me help you." Voltlyn murmured, stepping up beside the Albino. She removed the canvas Lyr had been painting on, and placed a fresh sheet of canvas on the tripod. Voltlyn took up position behind Lyrith, and took his paw in her own. Then, guiding his paw, she started paining on the canvas. Lyr stood, allowing her to take control, watching as she started outlining the tree, her brush strokes slow steady, yet purposeful.

After a few minutes, Lyrith started recognizing the patterns in her brush strokes in relation to the scene, and started moving his paw on his own. Upon feeling this, Voltlyn backed down, letting the Albino regain control of his brush, occasionally twitching his paw to aid his brush strokes. Danrah stood back and watched the two, a knowing smile creasing her muzzle.

Steadily, bit by bit, Voltlyn had to adjust Lyrith's paw movements less and less as the painting started to take form. For the first time in her life, Voltlyn felt truly relaxed, standing in the Temple gardens, helping her friends with her favourite hobby. All was good. The topaz dragoness let her gaze wander around the gardens, to the trees, the flowers and the sky.

Her eyes made their way back to Lyrith, and his features jumped out at her with sudden clarity. The slimness of his body, and the slight curves of his chest, waist and hips which were so odd on a male dragon now seemed so natural on him. The scars that traced his body only seemed to amplify this, the maze of cuts accenting his muscles and shape of his body.

Voltlyn's eyes followed the scars up to Lyrith's face, and settled there. Lyr's blood red eyes gazed down at the canvas he was painting on, unwavering in their direction. His eyes were so intense that Voltlyn felt a shiver run down her spine, half convinced he could bore holes into stone with his gaze alone. His face however, was set in a calm expression, almost tranquil.

A sudden ringing of bells shattered Voltlyn's dream-like state, and she tore her eyes away to look up at the sky.

"Hm? It's dinner already?" The colourless dragon grunted, just as surprised as Voltlyn, and moved to put his brush away.

Voltlyn suddenly became acutely aware of how close they were standing. Her chest was pressed up against Lyrith's folded wings. One paw was holding his, the other resting on his shoulder and her hips a mere claw's breath away from his rump.

Voltlyn all but leapt away from the Albino, her face flushing a deep scarlet. Lyrith felt her leave, the warmth from her body vanishing with her absence. He turned and looked over to her, raising an eye ridge upon seeing her nervous blush. Voltlyn's eyes fell to the floor, and her paws shuffled anxiously.

"Wow, that's way better than the garbage you made last time." Danrah teased, grinning as she walked up to the two. "I can actually tell it's supposed to be a tree now." The shadow dragoness giggled and nudged Lyrith playfully, to diffuse any anger he might feel at the statement. "Now come on, we're going to be late for supper! We can come back for the paints and stuff later!" Danrah gestured to the Temple entrance hurriedly as she started towards the steps.

Voltlyn nodded, her blush fading and followed after Danrah, glancing quickly back at Lyrith as she went. Lyrith gazed after Voltlyn, his eyes wide. Then, he took off after them, a small smile creasing his muzzle.

* * *

"Alright, Savron, it's time to start your lesson." Cynder barked at the young purple seated before her, directly in the middle of the training ring. "As you know, convexity is a magic that functions similar to a drug. It grants extreme magical power while simultaneously removing one's inhibitions entirely, leaving them morally barren. What we're going to do here, is sharpen your mind and harden your moral compass, so you can control and contain convexity, allowing you to retain your morals while under its influence."

"Yeah yeah yeah, get on with it." Savron grumbled, slouching on his haunches and looking around bored.

Cynder reached forward and cuffed Savron lightly across the head.

"Ow! What was that for!" Savron hissed, rubbing at his head and glaring up at his mother angrily. Cynder returned the glare.

"That kind of attitude is not helping, Savron. It's things such as that that make it so easy for the convexity to take over. You must stay strong, this is not something to take lightly."

"In order for this to work, you'll have to stay vigilant not just in your own inner battle, but to everything around you as well." Spyro grunted, appearing from behind a curtained off section of the training grounds, and padding towards the two. "If the power of convexity were to strike at you in the middle of a battle, you must be able to control it, as well as continue fighting at the same time. Getting yourself killed while you try to contain it is useless, as is losing control because you're too busy defending yourself."

"Alright." Savron sighed, shaking his head and sitting up. "So what do I do about that? What kind of training can help me learn this skill? You aren't going to make me change, and fight it off with my willpower, right?"

Cynder snorted. "Of course not, that's a stupid idea. You're not ready to make the transition yet." Cynder sat up as well, and moved over to the curtains Spyro had come through. Spyro gestured for Savron to follow, and the three slipped into the chamber. Savron's muzzle dropped open in surprise at the sight before him.

The room was large, but low ceilinged. Wooden beams touched the stone roof, and the plank floor beneath their paws creaked and groaned. In the middle of the room, a long twisting dirtpath was set out. All along it, rolling logs, gaping pits and twirling wood dummies were placed, barring the path.

"An obstacle course!" Savron muttered, incredulously. "You're making me do an obstacle course? It's not even a very good one! Where are the stone pendulums you used on me when I was ten? Where are the dart and elemental traps?"

"All in due time." Spyro grinned, looking down at his son. "And it's not just an obstacle course you'll be doing. This test is one of three components, this is just one of them."

"And what might those other ones be?" Savron groaned, sitting down and looking at the course with dismay.

"The other two parts are a test of intelligence, and a test of will." Cynder replied, moving over to a platform overlooking the course, and glancing over it. "This course is a test of reflex and speed. They will all be done consecutively during the training."

"Basically, you'll run the course, while answering all of Cynder's questions to the best of your ability, while fending off a mental assault from me." Spyro beamed, his purple eyes gleaming evilly. "If you fail any one of these parts, you have to start the whole thing over again. Once you've mastered the course, we'll take it up a notch, change it around a bit, and add a couple more traps. Then you'll do it all over again. When you're able to go Terrador's infamous death course while doing all of this, you'll be ready to try transitioning."

Savron swallowed hard, his green eyes wide, and then nodded. "Alright... doesn't sound so bad."

"That's the spirit!" Spyro laughed, patting Savron on the back. "Well, take position."

Reluctantly Savron moved to the start of the obstacle course, and crouched, waiting for the signal. Spyro took a seat on a cushion beside Cynder, and closed his eyes. A slight glow of purple surrounded him, as he focused. After a brief moment, he opened his eyes. His pupils had vanished, swamped in a bright golden light.

_"Can you hear me, Savron?"_ Spyro's voice echoed inside Savron's mind.

"Yes dad." Savron acknowledged, nodding towards his parents.

_"Good. Now as you run the course, I'll be doing **this**,_" A sharp pain stabbed into Savron's brain, making him yelp in shock. _"to you every one and a while to try and ruin your concentration. Do you remember how to block mental attacks?"_

"Uh huh." Savron murmured, shaking his head to clear it off the phantom pain.

_"Great. Then you can go. Just keep your wits about you and concentrate on what you're doing, you should be fine."_

Savron nodded, and took off. He raced over the wood floor, and around the first bend, toward the rolling log floor.

"What's eighteen times three?" Cynder shouted, as Savron jumped onto the logs, and glided across them, his momentum rolling the logs and carrying him across.

"Uh...fifty four." Savron shouted back as he started running again. Savron felt a jab at his mind, but he formed a mental membrane around his conscious to protect himself from the attack.

Savron reached the spinning dummy's and slowed. Their wooden arms whirled about them, all at different heights, speeds and directions.

"What is the most suitable punishment for buying contraband material?" Cynder bellowed. Savron, ducked under the first of the dummy's and side stepped another.

"Depending on the materials, anywhere from..." Savron's mental guard fell as he focused on the question, and in the opening, Spyro jabbed hard into Savron's mind. Savron yelped, and jumped up, right into the whirling arms of the padded dummies. The arms battered Savron across the face and sent him crashing to the ground, moaning.

"Start again." Cynder sighed, shaking his head. Grumbling, Savon got up, and padded back to the start. Once he was in place, Cynder nodded to him, and Savron took off down the course. Immediately he felt several jabs come at him from Spyro, and Savron focused on forming the barrier around his conscious. The young purple skipped over the logs, and moved across the field towards the dummies. Savron repelled several more mental attacks, and hardened his mind shield. He distantly heard some thing in the distance, but Savron took little notice of it as he defended himself from his father. Savron ducked under the dummies' whirling limbs, and rushed through unharmed. He reached the pit and jumped onto the stepping poles. He leapt across, dancing over the wide pit easily.

He reached the other side, but something was nagging at him.

_"What am I miss...?"_ Savron thought as he moved along the course towards the finish.

"Start again! You didn't answer any of my questions."

"Damn it!" Savron growled, stopping and stomping back to the start of the obstacle course.

Savron pelted down the course, gritting his fangs as he focused his mind on the task at hand. Four quick jabs came at him, and he nullified them as he leaped over the logs.

"Fourteen, times four, subtract seven." Cynder barked.

Savron did the calculations in his head quickly, managing to beat back the mental spike Spyro sent his way at the same time.

"Uh... Fourty nine!" Savron called back, hitting the floor at a dead run. He made it to the spinning dummies and started to skip through them.

"What's the best solution to resolving a dispute between two families waring over a space of land?" Cynder questioned. Savron focused, hardening his mental membrane against Spyro's attack, and analyzing the question.

"Depending on..."

Savron, so focused on his mental tasks, had slowed to a near stop in the middle of the group of whirling wood, and was battered to the ground.

"SHIT! FUCKING SHIT!" Savron roared as he lay beaten on the wooden floor. "How the hell am I suppose to do all three things at the same damn time! It's impossible!"

"It's not impossible, Savon, but it is extremely difficult." Cynder murmured, shaking her head as Savron got up and stormed over to the beginning, hitting the wooden beams as he went, infuriated.

"No, it is impossible! I try to focus on all three, but my mind can only focus on two of them, and the third slips through my claws like sand! I can't keep a hold of it! Why do I even have to answer these stupid questions anyway?" Savron bellowed, turning to face his parents angrily. "It's not like I'll be doing a test in the middle of a battle!"

Cynder snorted, and looked down at Savron sternly. "You need to do these questions because in battle, you need to do more than just fight off opponents. You need to think, rationalize, and solve problems while fighting. If you can't think because you're too busy defending yourself from foes, and convexity at the same time, you're bound to make mistakes. And mistakes will get you, or others killed. Now get started."

Savron sighed in defeat, couched, and took off down the track.

...

Hours trudged on as Savron ran the course again and again, each time failing in different, but equally frustrating ways. His parents often set their son up for defeat, timing their questions and strikes with the most difficult parts of the track. The young purple dragon forged on, fueled by frustrated rage, and the need to show his parents he was capable of completing their task.

Finally, Savron slumped against a wooden pillar in the middle of the track, utterly exhausted. He panted hard for breath, his green eyes hooded and his body shaking from exertion.

"I can't... go any... farther." Savron wheezed, his tongue lolling out as he heaved in deep breaths. "I must've run this course... a million times... Can I... take a break?"

Spyro looked over at Cynder, the glow in his eyes fading away.

"He's spent." The purple saviour grunted, getting up and stretching. "His body can't take much more of this kind of strain. If we push Sav any harder, he'll collapse."

Cynder shook her head and sighed. "Alright, I understand. It's important for Savron to learn how to control himself, but his well being is far more important. And besides," Cynder grinned. "it's almost dinner time, we're all starving."

Spyro laughed and nodded over to Savron. "Okay Sav, you can go and enjoy the rest of the day with your friends."

"Yes!" Savron cheered weakly, pushing himself away from the wooden beam and shakily made his way over to the exit. Cynder padded over to him as he moved, stopping him halfway across the training grounds.

"You've done well today, Sav." Cynder murmured, leaning down and hugging Savron tightly. "I'm very proud of you."

Savron flushed lightly at the gesture, and grinned. "Aw, thanks mom."

"You do know, that even though I'm hard on you, I still love you with all my heart. Right, Savron?" Cynder asked solemnly, looking her son directly in the eyes.

Savron nodded. "Of course, mom. Don't worry about it."

Cynder smiled, nuzzling Savron affectionately. "That's good. Now off you go, you must be starving."

"You have no idea." Savron chuckled, turning and shuffling over to the exit. "I'll see you later!"

"Don't forget to get up early!" Cynder called after her son as he left the chamber. "Lessons begin tomorrow! You don't want to be late!"

"Sorry mom! I can't hear you over the sound of my stomach rumbling!" Savron called back over his shoulder mischievously as he vanished around the corner.

Cynder shook her head disparagingly, a small smile creasing her muzzle. "Males." She sighed, covering her eyes with a paw.

"We can't help it, it's how we are." Spyro chuckled as he moved up beside his mate, grinning.

"Well you should try harder." Cynder teased, poking at Spyro with a claw. "All you males can think about is food, playing around and sex. With that kind of attitude, all you males come off as ignorant savages."

"What can we say," Spyro snickered, poking back at Cynder. "Ignorance is bliss. And besides, you love us savages the way we are, don't you?" Spyro tickled Cynder's flank with his claws, and she slapped him lightly over the head, giggling.

"I suppose I do have a certain fondness for you, you big oaf." Cynder gave Spyro a short nuzzle, and then backed away, smiling. "Now let's fill your barbarian stomach up with grub before you get grumpy."

Spyro grinned, and made a dopey expression, thrusting out his lower jaw and rolling his eyes to either side of his head.

"Tummy growl. Spyro want food!" He grunted, chuckling stupidly.

Cynder snickered at his expression, and slapped him across the shoulders. Spyro's face returned to normal and he joined in with her laughter.

"Alright big boy, let's go get something to eat." Cynder chuckled, turning and striding out of the chamber. "I'm starting to feel a bit peckish myself."

Spyro grinned after her as she made her way out of the room, and then followed his mate, feeling his stomach protesting it's prolonged emptiness.

Savron padded quickly down the halls, his sore legs keeping him from sprinting to the kitchens. The bell rung halfway down the hall to the kitchens, and the purple dragon sped up, hoping to get their first.

He made it, and managed to skip ahead of another student and grab the first plate. Savron piled his platter up high with food, his stomach snarling irritably at him to hurry up. The purple dragon finished pilling up pieces of poultry, and shuffled over to his table, balancing his plate on his forepaws as he walked. More students started to pour in as Savron took his seat. The purple sighed in relief as he proceeded to stuff his face, munching down on his meal.

"So how did the training go?" Igneous asked, sitting down beside Savron, placing his plate of food down on the table with a soft thump. Savron tore into his third steak, devouring it in half a dozen large chomps. He swallowed hard, and panted.

"It was... okay, I guess." Savron mumbled picking up a rack of ribs and gnawing on them savagely.

"What did you do?" The red dragon asked, curious.

Savron sighed and shook his head, swallowing so he could speak. "Maybe later, I'm dying of hunger right now."

Igneous shrugged and started on his own meal. Several minutes later, Lyrith, Voltlyn and Danrah took their seats, and each eyed Savron speculatively as he scarfed down half of his plate of food in under a minute.

"Was the training tough on you?" Danrah asked, grinning as Savron tried to figure out if he could fit both a steak, and a chicken leg into his muzzle at the same time.

"Umph, Yesh it mwash." Savron mumbled, and choked as his food went down the wrong way. Danrah clubbed Savron across the back with her paw, and the purple dragon coughed up a hunk of meat.

"Thanks." Savron wheezed, gasping for breath.

"No problem." Danrah said, grinning.

The others soon arrived, Sleet, Typhous, Zindy, Tirren. Everyone gathered up their food, and took their seats. Each questioned Savron on his training as they arrived, and Savron each gave them increasingly terse refutes.

"Seriously! Why can't all of you just drop it!" Savron grumbled as Tirren took her seat. "I'm deadbeat tired. Isn't that answer enough!"

"Alright, alright, settle down Sav." The emerald green dragoness mumbled, shaking her twisted horn head. "I'm sorry if I hit a nerve."

"Yeah, well, it's just that everyone's been asking me about my training. I don't really want to think about it at the moment." Savron sighed, putting down the last, chewed up bone from his meal, and leaned back on his cushion.

"Ican'twaitforclassestomorrow!" Zindy chirped, bouncing up and down in her pillow. "It'ssoexciting! I'llbetakingallkinds ofcoolthings! LikeDragonhistories andmagicaltheoriesand..."

Tirren sighed and reached over, clamping a paw over Zindy's muzzle to silence her. She continued her nonstop rambling, her muffled voice echoing behind Tirren's paw.

The table snickered at the sight of Zindy nodding to herself as she spoke through Tirren's paw, not noticing or caring that she couldn't be all waited for Zindy to finish before returning to their conversation.

"Well, I'm not looking forward to lessons." Savron grumbled, shaking his head irritably. "Now with the new training program mom and dad are putting me through." Savron looked around, and seeing everyone at the table holding their curiosity back, smirked. "Alright, I'll tell you. I just wanted to finish eating before you all started bombarding me with questions."

"Sowhatisit? Isitsomesupercool awesomeneatmindtraining?" Zindy spouted, quivering in excitement. "Orisitmaybethattheyuse convexityonyou andyouhavetofenditoff? IsthatisSav? Isit?"

Savron snorted. "No, it's just some lame obstacle course test thing that they make me run over and over again while honing my mind. It's all just lame bullshit, and I don't see how it'll help with my 'problem'."

"I'm sure they know what they're doing." Danrah murmured, stripping the last of the meat off of her chicken wing.

"Mom and dad aren't all knowing." Savron snorted. "And they're not infallible like so many ignorant townsfolk believe. They can make mistakes too."

"But this is something they had to go through with themselves." Danrah argued. "I doubt that... Vash! Vash over here!" Danrah abruptly sat up and started waving to the dark blue dragon who had just entered the kitchen. The cloud pattered dream drake looked over, and nodded to his sister, the spiny tendrils on his head shaking as he moved his head. Danrah sat back down, and flushed at the stares that Savron, Lyrith and the others gave her.

"Oh, sorry. Vash is my brother. Is it okay if he sits here too?" Danrah asked shyly.

Savron shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Great!" Danrah got back up and gestured Vash over. The dream dragon quickly gathered his food up, and moved over to their table. Vash stood at the table for a moment, before taking a seat beside Danrah.

"Well, like I said. This is Vash, my brother." Danrah introduced, patting Vash on the back. "Cynder brought us both to the Temple about half a year back. It's good to finally be able to meet all of you."

"Indeed." Vash said, his brown eyes scanning the dragons before him.

"Brother eh?" Savron murmured, looking Vash up and down. "You two don't look all that alike..."

"Vash was adopted." Danrah answered, smiling. "Dad liked what he saw in him, and so he took him off the streets to live with us."

"You were orphaned?" Tirren murmured, her expression distressed. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

Vash nodded, his eyes falling to the floor. "In a way, yes. There's old superstitions about Dream dragons in shadow dragon lands, ones that go back more than a century. Mom and dad were farmers, and very old fashion, so they did their best to drive me away. Beating me, making me do all the chores, and scolding me for everything I did. I finally took the hint on my fourteenth hatchday, when they 'forgot' for the third time, and took off. My sister, Falwee, followed after me, and we made our way to the city."

The faces of all those at the table were pained as Vash related his story in a deadpan voice, pausing only to eat his meal. Lyr examined Vash, his expression blank and unreadable, his paws crossed in front of his face as he leaned against the table.

"Naturally, most peasants think the same as farmers, so they didn't take kindly to a dream dragon 'polluting' their streets. We were harassed constantly, and we struggled to survive on scraps and the little money we could scrounge. We were lucky when Danrah's father came and saved us, taking us away from all of that." Vash looked over at Danrah, and smiled. "To which I will be eternally grateful for."

"Don't be silly, Vash." Danrah giggled. "He's your father now too. It's okay to address him as such."

"Right." Vash agreed, his grin showing teeth.

"Wow, Vash. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that." Savron murmured, shaking his head. "It must have been hell."

"What kind of dragons abuse and mistreat younglings?" Igneous sighed, shaking his head regretfully. "Especially their own children?"

"Well, at least it turned out well in the end." Tirren murmured, looking over at Vash sympathetically.

Vash nodded. "At least."

"Well, anyway, I'm Savron." The purple dragon said, reaching out a paw towards Vash. The dream dragon took it, and shook the purple's paw firmly. Savron went through the motions of introducing his friends, and Vash shook each one's paw in turn.

"... And this is Lyrith." Savron finished, gesturing to the Albino. Lyrith extended his paw, but Vash made no move to take it. The dream dragon just stared at Lyrith, his brown eyes sharp as knives. Lyrith raised an eyeridge at the violent stare Vash sent his way, and felt a slow sneer crease his muzzle. The others at the table eyed Vash puzzled as the two stared each other down, neither moving an inch.

"Vash, don't be rude." Danrah hissed rebukingly into the dark blue dragon's earfrill. Vash snorted and gripped Lyrith's paw tightly, squeezing it as hard as he could, as if to crush Lyr's paw. Lyrith's sneer widened into a wicked grin, and he squeezed back with twice the force. Both dragons continued their battle of wills, while the others watched, confused. Finally, Lyrith felt the bones of Vash's paw creak under the force of his grip, and the dream dragon let go. Lyrith released him, and looked up into Vash's eyes. The drakes brown eyes burned with quiet fury as he retreated from the contest, and Lyrith snorted turning away and back to his food.

Danrah sighed and shook her head disparagingly at her brother's actions. Savron looked between them, and shrugged. Then, he glanced around the table, his expression darkening.

"I... I don't suppose any of you have seen Wintra around? I haven't seen her since the... Incident, and I was wondering what had happened to her..."

"She hasn't left her rooms since she got out of the infirmary." Tirren murmured, biting into a turkey leg. "Not even to get meals. The Guardians are having them delivered to her, but she wont be staying here for much longer."

"Why's that?" Savron asked, puzzled. Igneous looked up at Savron, and smiled weakly.

"Her parents are coming to collect her. They're furious about what's happened, and don't want her in the Temple any longer. She seems to be thinking the same way. With Torch's gang broken up, and her... Well her 'friends' having abandoned her, she has no more wish to stay here."

"Oh... I see..." Savron sighed, his head lowering, eyes down cast. There was a long pause in the conversation, as no one could think of something to say. Finally, Danrah broke the quiet.

"Well, um...What were we talking about again?" She asked the purple. Savron looked up, and frowned thoughtfully.

"I believe it was about school or something like that." Savron mused, tapping a claw to his chin.

"I think you had just finished telling us how much you hated your training, Sav." Tirren corrected, and Savron nodded emphatically.

"Oh yeah, that was it!" Savron, smiled gratefully at Tirren, and cleared his throat, shaking his head. "I have no idea what my parents are thinking. How in the world will this stupid course help me in the slightest?"

* * *

The moon rose in the dusky evening sky, and the wind blustered across the hilly plains west of the Temple. Stars speckled the sky and the two crescent moons shone down over the landscape. A small caravan had settled for the night in the grassy plains, and at its center a steam powered carriage stood. Gleaming yellow lamplight streamed out of its windows, like a star in the midst of the grass.

Gorgulline lounged on his bed of pillows, a bowl of brandy and a plate of assorted meats at his side. He idly gazed out the window, watching the darkening landscape out through his window. Set on a small table, a long sheet of parchment lay, writing scrawled across it's white surface. The words were packed so tightly together, that it almost appeared to be a solid block of text squeezed onto the page.

Gorgulline's gaze occasionally returned to the sheet of paper and scanned it, reading it over and over again. The slightly plump feran smiled. This was probably his life's greatest achievement. He had spent a year negotiating with the Guardians and the kings about forming an alliance between their two kingdoms. It was a work of genius. One that allowed Kaiser to retain control of his own lands, while gaining the protection of the Dragon Realms. Sure they had to share much of their resources and supply workers and troops to the Realms, but the benefits greatly out weight the cost of this alliance.

Gorgulline sighed. "_All that's need to be done now, is have King Kaiser sign the treaty, and this year of negotiations and bickering will be finished. No more letters to Kaiser so he can know what's going on. No more midnight meetings, and no more staying awake late into the night to work out loop holes in our agreement. Everything will be good again."_ Gorgulline took a long sip from his bowl of brandy and popped a ball of breaded meat into his muzzle. "And I can finally go back home and see my family again." Gorgulline muttered to himself, closing his eyes and stretching out on his bed.

A sudden rapping at the carriage door startled him, and Gorgulline nearly knocked over his bowl of brandy as he leaped out of his bed.

"What is it?" Gorgulline demanded sourly, rolling the treaty up and placing it in a small box on top of his dresser. The carriage was surprisingly spacious, with room to move about freely despite the bed of pillows, the dresser table and mattress couch cluttering up space. A small fire crackled in the tiny furnace off to the side, providing both warmth and additional power to the carriage.

"Well sir." A young voice spoke anxiously from behind the door. "Someone bearing King Kaiser's seal has arrived, accompanied by a battalion of soldiers."

"An escort?" Gorgulline grumbled, frowning. "I don't remember requesting an escort. Send him in!"

There was a short pause, and Gorgulline sat down, tapping a claw on the floor of the carriage impatiently. Then the door creaked open. A tall figure robed and hooded in a purple cloak stepped in, a long staff topped by a purple crystal in hand. Around his neck, the seal of the feran king hung on a leather cord.

Gorgulline blinked in surprise. "Jaxar?" He murmured incredulously. The robed figure chuckled, and pushed back his hood, revealing the twisted features of the half-breed sorcerer.

"Your skills in deduction are as keen as ever, Gorgulline." Jaxar grinned, closing the door behind him. Gorgulline's frown deepened.

"And what is your business here, Jaxar? I don't recall asking for an escort."

"I'm here on the king's business." Jaxar murmured mysteriously, fingering the seal he wore.

"And what business might that be?" Gorgulline asked speculatively, eyes narrowed. Jaxar laughed, and patted the ambassador on the shoulder, having to reach up above his head to do so.

"Treaty business." Jaxar chuckled, taking a seat on the mattress.

Gorgulline relaxed, smiling. "It's right here, safe and sound." The feran gestured to the box where the treaty was held.

Jaxar nodded. "Very good, we wouldn't want our kingdom's future wrecked or lost."

"Indeed." Gorgulline agreed nodding as well. "So what is your purpose here, Jaxar? I thought you were prince Ramolous's service?"

"I still am." Jaxar admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "But the king's orders supersedes any princes'."

"Very true." Gorgulline consented. "Though you're avoiding my question. **Why** are **you** here, Jaxar?"

The sorcerer laughed and sat up. "Please, take a seat. I'll pour us some water, I'm terribly thirsty."

Gorgulline nodded and sat down on his mattress. Jaxar moved over the the cabinets and started searching through them.

"The left one." Gorgulline huffed, rolling his eyes. Jaxar nodded his thanks, set down his staff and opened the indicated cabinet, drawing out a pitcher of water, a cup.

"Well you see," Jaxar began, as he unstoppered the pitcher and started pouring himself some water. "the king is greatly concerned about the treaty, and has sent me to make sure it is well in hand."

"I suppose that is understandable." Gorgulline said, nodding. "He would naturally be concerned about our one hope of uniting our kingdom with the Dragon Realms."

Jaxar nodded and took a sip of his water, and then glanced over at Gorgulline.

"Would you like some?" Jaxar asked, raising the pitcher suggestively. Gorgulline shook his head.

"No, I am fine thank you."

"Oh, but I must insist." Jaxar grinned, grabbing a bow and tipping the pitcher over it. The water exploded out from the pitcher, sloshing over Gorgulline's face, drenching him in water. The feran ambassador gasped in shock as the water struck him, and he fell over onto the floor.

Jaxar smiled warmly, and set the pitcher down, and closed his fist tightly. The water suddenly gathered up around Gorgulline's head into a solid sphere of water. Gorgulline opened his muzzle to cry out for help, but water from the sphere rushed into his maw, cutting him off. His eyes widened in horror as he choked and spluttered, unable to draw breath. He clawed at the sphere with his paws, trying hopelessly to remove the water from around his head. Jaxar tipped his cup back, and drained the last of his water, sighing in relief and pleasure once he was done.

"Ah that was good. Nothing like a cool glass of fresh water after a long day of marching." Jaxar smiled cheerfully, his yellow eyes gleaming in the lamp light as he glanced over to the drowning drake beside him. Jaxar walked slowly over to the box containing the treaty, and opened it up. He set his staff down as he pulled out the scroll, unfurling it and glancing through it's contents. Jaxar nodded appreciatively.

"Very good! I can see why Kaisar sent you to arrange it." The purple clad sorcerer rolled up the scroll and put it back in it's box.

Gorgulline writhed on the floor, clutching at the water. He screamed as the globe of liquid drowned him, but only a gurgle and a stream of bubbles emerged to show for his efforts. Jaxar glanced around the room, his expression one of cheerful amusement. His eyes stopped at a small portrait hanging on one of the walls. The half-breed stepped up to the painting, picking his staff up as he went.

The portrait was off three ferans. Two adults stood proudly over a dragonling feraness, who clutched Gorgulline's leg tightly with her forelegs. Gorgulline's wing was draped over his mate's back lovingly, and she rested her maned head on his shoulder, grinning down at their hatchling.

Jaxar plucked the painting from the wall, examined it closely. "Is this your family? They're lovely, you must be so proud of them, and they you. Your daughter looks so happy as well, probably because she finally gets to see you after so long away on diplomatic missions."

The feran ambassador's struggles weakened, as he ran out of air. His eyes were wide with horror as he desperately tried to suck in air, but only succeeded in inhaling more water. The sorcerer smiled, his grin as sweet as honey as he moved over to the dying dragon, sitting down beside him.

"You know, sometimes I wish I had a family. But then I remember that I'm not the type of man to raise kids, you know what I'm saying?" Jaxar chuckled, holding up the picture and looking at it. Gorgulline's struggles were little more than quivering twitches now. The deep crimson dragon stared mournfully at the portrait Jaxar held up as darkness started to creep into his distant eyes.

Jaxar sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry." He said, a small smile crinkling his features. "I'll take good care of them." Jaxar grinned his sugar sweet smile revealing crooked fangs. Gorgulline gave one, last final effort to try and strike out at the sorcerer, but his paw barely moved. Then, he sagged, his eyes glazing over as the last of his dwindling life flickered out.

Jaxar got up, and unclenched his fist, letting the globe of water slip away from the dead dragon's head and slosh onto the floor. The half-breed shook the tension out of his hand, and then stepped out of the carriage, where Travix waited patiently. The blood dragon sat in front of the carriage, facing a a group of Feran and panther caravan guards who were boxed in by three score of soldiers.

Jaxar clasped Travix on the shoulder as he passed, and the blood dragon sat up, grinning.

"Alright, all of you work for me now." Jaxar called out to the guards as he came to a stop in front of them. "You'll all obey my orders now, and..."

"B... But the king employed us to protect the..." One of the guard protested, stepping forward. A panther soldier butted the guard in the stomach with his spear.

"Don't interrupt Lord Jaxar!" The panther growled in rebuke.

Jaxar stepped in before any further hostilities could ensue. "Do you know what this means?" He asked, holding up the seal he wore around his neck. The guards stared at it, and the one beside the first speaker spoke up.

"Well..."

"It means," Jaxar cut in before the guard could finish. "that I have the king's authority behind me. And that means you listen to me, or you're committing treason."

The guards all glanced at each other nervously. Jaxar grinned.

"So now that you know your situation, It's time for you to choose: Work for me, or commit treason."

The soldiers took up battle stances, the panthers raising their weapons, and the ferans stretching out their gauntleted claws. The guards hesitated for only a moment before bowing to Jaxar in relative unison.

"We are at your service, Lord Jaxar."

The halfbreed sorcerer smirked, and let the seal fall back onto his chest. "Good." Jaxar murmured, his crooked fangs gleaming in the moonlight. "Then your first order is to burn the caravan, and everything in it. I don't want even a trace of it left."

The guards looked at Jaxar horrified, mouths agape in shock.

"B... But sir." A guard exclaimed, stepping forward. "The treaty and the ambassador..."

Jaxar raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. Tendrils of air lashed out from around Jaxar, and whipped around the feran's throat. The guard gasped and gagged as the tendrils squeezed his throat, choking him. Jaxar clucked in disappointment, and tapped the seal he wore.

"Burn the caravan." He whispered, smiling sweetly. He released the guard, who collapsed, sucking in great lungfuls of air. The other guards looked at each other, and then quickly moved to grab torches and lanterns from the caravans. Jaxar and Travix stepped back so they could watch, smiling smugly.

"I don't shupposhe that you'd let me eat one of them?" Travix whispered, eyeing the guards hungrily. Jaxar shook his head.

"Maybe after we've finished our mission." He sniffed as the first of the caravans caught fire. It only took a few minutes for the fire to spread to the other carriages and transports, lighting up the night with crackling flames. From inside, screams sounded as the occupants were burned alive, battering at the doors the guards had barred. The ferans and panthers watched, sickened as the fire consumed the carriages, and all that was inside, smoke billowing upwards into the sky.

Jaxar clapped his gloved hands together, to catch their attention.

"Alright." He said bruskly, dusting his robes off. "It's time to get moving, the night's still young after all, and we have one last assignment to complete." Jaxar looked around as the panthers and ferans gathered around him. He smirked. "You all know who are targets are?" Jaxar asked, and glanced around at the assembled soldiers. "For those of you who don't ask around. I'm not in the mood to explain everything over again. I will say, however, that once our mission has started, I want no set backs. If someone gets in the way of our mission, you are to kill them, no questions asked."

* * *

Savron paced around his room irratably, his brow furrowed in frustration as he moved impatiently around his room. Only a faint sliver of silvery moonlight cut through the curtained windows, illuminating his relatively tidy room. Savron occasionally glanced over at his door, pausing and cocking his head, as if listening for something. Then he would resume his restless treadding about his room.

Finally at the point where it seemed he might start pacing a grove into the floor, Savron stopped, listened, and then gave a satisfied nod. The purple dragon moved stealthily over to his door and slowly opened it. The soft, even snoring of his parents echoed around the cavernous expanse of their chamber. Savron smiled victoriously, and slipped out through his door, slowly shutting it behind him. He glided down to the study floor, and wandered over to the exit. Taking great care he opened the door without a sound, and exited his parent's chamber. Once he was out in the hall, Savron closed the door and strode down the hall purposefully, not making any effort to hide himself. He turned several corners, smirking in satisfaction, never once looking back. Unnoticed by the purple, several figures slipped through the shadows behind him, silent and invisible, stalking the purple drake as he made his way down the hall.

...

Lyrith yawned as he made his way down the corridor towards the great hall, blinking tiredly to clear his eyes of exhaustion. The hall was dark, with only a handful of flickering torches to light the way. Wavering shadows pooled in the corners and around the statues as Lyrith made his way through the halls, slowly edging towards his destination. The white dragon turned into several side passages, doubled back a few times as his weary mind lead him astray, eventually making it to the great hall.

Lyrith traversed the wide open space groggily, sore and tired from his long work rutiene at Deran's forge, and his nightly exercise.

Lyrith shook his head and stummbled as he dozed off on his paws, his mind slipping into a trance as he fought for wakefullness. A small hiss of pain, broke him from his half slumber, and he looked around, blinking blearily. Off in the corner of his eye, Lyrith noticed dark shapes glidding into a corridor off to the side, one shape hobbling crookedly after the others.

Lyrith stopped, his weariness forgotten, though still weighing down his thoughts and body.

"What the...?" He murmured, blinking several more times. Lyr shook his head, and looked again. The shapes had vanished. The white listened hard, but could hear nothing more than the whispering wind outside. Lyrith shook his head again, and started to turn away, when he stopped.

_"I didn't survive on the streets by dissmissing things as figments of my imagination."_ Lyrith thought grimly, altering his course from the male's corridor, to the female's corridor, moving towards where he had last seen the shapes. The Albino slipped into a patch of darkness, and vanished from sight, and started stalking his shadowy prey.

...

Savron knocked lightly on the door five times, paused, and then knocked three more times in rapid succession. He waited for a moment, suffling uneasily in the female's corridor, nervously glancing sidelong down the hall. Finally the door opened, and Savron sighed in relief. The grey dragoness Miranda gazed out at the purple, a coy smile creasing her features.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up." She smirked, eyes wandering from Savron's face and down his body.

Savron returned the smile micheviously. "Sorry I'm late, hotstuff." Savron whispered, stepping into the room and planting a light kiss on the dragoness's muzzle. Miranda murred, and then pulled away, guiding him into her room, and shutting the door behind them.

"I was wondering if you were still up for our little, get-together." Miranda grinned, and moved around Savron, brushing her side up against his. Savron grinned, and they made their way into her chamber.

Her room was dimly lit and spacious. Her desk, cabinets and book shelves were all crowed together along one wall, with everything neatly aligned in order of size. The other side of the room was dominated by a massive horde of cushions, all a lush green in colour. A chest lay by the bed, and several small bedside tables were covered in lit candles, most of which had burned down to a nub.

"I would never miss out on a meeting with you, Miranda! Especially a meeting like this!" Savron exclaimed dramatically. Miranda giggled.

"Well of course not? Who would?" The grey wind dragoness lead Savron over to the bed, moving slowly so Savron had ample time to oogle her. He blushed furioulsy as she moved her body to show off her best features. She lay down on her back, and stretched out luxuriously, spreading her wings out over the bed, and resting her head on the pillows. Miranda looked up at the purple and winked suductively. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Savron hesitated, not quite sure what he was supposed to do, his eyes flicking over to her nervously. Miranda sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to wait all night here."

Savron smiled weakly, and padded over to her, moving so he stood over her, and looked down. She leaned up and she kissed him passionately, lowering his paws to her body, so he could stroke her flanks. Savron, held the kiss for a moment, before breaking it smiling down at the dragoness below him, panting for breath. He was just starting moving to kiss her neck when a loud knock sounded at the door, startling to two dragons.

Savron glanced down at Mirnada, a consternated look on his face. "I... I don't suppose expecting someone else?"

Miranda shook her head. Savron climbed off the wind dragoness and moved over to a corner of the room, out of sight from anyone entering the room. Another loud knock sounded, and Savron nodded his head towards the door.

"You get it. I'm not supposed to be here."

The grey dragoness nodded in agreement, rolling to her paws and moving over to the door. She reached it at the third set of knocks, and Savron mouthed the words 'I'm not here' to Miranda. Miranda gripped the door handle in her paw, and took a moment to compose herself. Then, she threw open the door, with an irratated expression.

"Well? What do you..."

She got no further as a spear plunged through her torso, and emerged out of her back in a spary of blood. Miranda screamed, and Savron stared in horror as she was violently kicked off the spear by a burly panther. A squad of three panthers and two ferans burst into the room. They glanced around and caught sight of the stunned purple dragon, who stared uncomprehendingly at them.

"There he is!" The panther who had impaled Miranda shouted, pointing to Savron. "Kill him!"

Savron's trance was broken as they stepped over the grey dragoness, who lay gasping and weeping in a growing pool of her own blood. Savron gave a howling roar of pain and fury as they advanced towards him, and lunged at the coming assassins, fangs barred, tears streaming from his eyes.

...

Lyrith jumped as a wailing scream tore through the air, causing Lyrith to trip over his own paws in surprise. The colourless dragon bolted from the shadows, and raced down the hall towards the source of the noise, grateful he had followed the shadows after all. Lyr turned at the opened door and stopped, stunned at what he saw in the room.

A group of five intruders stood over Miranda, who lay bleeding on the ground. They battled Savron, who dodged away from their attacks, striking back with his claws, his green eyes enraged beyond the point of reason. Flickering over his hide, whisps of darkness flickered. They gave Savron an eerie look as he fought, but never swallowed him completely.

Lyrith hesitated only for a second longer, before pouncing on the nearest foe, a sword weilding panther, and bearing it to the ground. The attackers whirled around as the Albino tore at the panther, ripping at her armour with his talons. Savron spared Lyrith only a glance before inhaling, and blasting the nearest Feran with arcs of lightning. The jungle fear dragon howled and collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Lyr gripped the struggling panther's head in his jaws, and twisted it violently, feeling her neck break with a sickening crack under him. The black feline fell still. By now the noise of the fighting had awaken all the other students, and the females barrged out into the halls, only to run head long into feran and panther reinforcements. Screams and howls exploded along the halls as an all out battle along the corridor.

The one feran still standing glanced between the two dragons who had flanked him and his squad, and then nodded to the two remaining panthers.

"You hold the purple off, I'll deal with the Albino." The adult feran grunted, turning to face Lyrith, sneering. He inhaled sharply, and then screamed at the top of his lungs. A wave of crimson energy exploded out towards Lyr, who narrowly ducked it. Lyrith rolled to avoid the paw strike the feran had aimed at his head, and twirled around, slashing the feran's leg with his tail blade. The feran roared in pain, jerking back, allowing Lyrith to duck under the larger dragon's legs, and come up behind him.

"Hold still dammit!" The crimson jungle dragon screeched, turning to face the colourless dragon, enraged. His face was met halfway there by Lyrith's taloned paw. The Feran staggered back, yowling in pain, clutching at his bleeding face with his paws. The feran spat out several spheres of red energy from him maw, which arched out and slammed into the white dragon with explosive force.

Lyrith was blown off his paws, and into the air. He landed with a thump against Miranda's desk and was stunned, giving the feran enough time to clear the blood from his eyes. The feran screamed again, washing Lyrith with a wave of dark red energy. Lyr, who had been just getting to his paws, felt his limbs lock in place as the magical fear took hold. The feran sneered at Lyrith, who stood, shaking in place, unable to move or defend himself. He stared up at the feran, his red eyes wells of terror.

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this, lizard." The jungle dragon snarled, stalking over to Lyrith and smacking him across the room with a paw. Lyrith crumpled to the ground, still quivering with fear. The feran grinned, and padded over, raising his paw again, claws flashing as he aimed to take the Albino's head from his shoulders.

Savron clawed at one of the two panthers, but the sword bearing feline jumped back out of reach, flicking out his sword and cutting Savron's cheek. The two danced and ducked Savron's blows, occasionally slashing back with their weapons. Slowly, step by step, they flanked the purple, forcing him to turn his back on one of them, so they could attack him from behind.

Savron growled and clawed and bit at the two, his green eyes flicking back and forth as they manovered into postion. He knew what they were doing, and knew that if they forced him to completely lose sight of one of them, he would be as good as dead. A sharp jab in Savron's flank caused him to snarl in pain.

_"Enough of this!"_ Savron thought, infuriated. _"They want to play games? Well, I can play games too!"_ Savron gave a short snort in the direction of one of the panther's causing it to flinch back, expecting a magical attack. Using the small opening, Savron stepped into the shadows pooling in the corner of Miranda's room. The panther's thinking they had him cornered, rushed in, and struck out at the patch of darkness. There was no response. Confused, they tried again, with similar results. The didn't see Savron emerge from the shadows behind them, and take a deep breath. The blast of earth shards caught them from behind, ripping through them like paper, and splattering the walls with blood and gore. The two felines crumpled to the ground, torn apart like rag dolls.

Savron glanced around the room, and stared in horror as he saw the feran approach Lyrith, who lay unmoving on the floor. He collected his wits in time to see the feran raise his paw with killing intent, and shouted out as loud as he could.

"Yo! Furface! Think fast!" Savron inhaled rapidly, and spat a ball of fire at the feran. The jungle dragon looked over at Savron, saw the ball of fire coming, and ducked it. Lyrith's fear stiffened limbs finally loosened, and he dove to the side, swinging a foreclaw blindly in the feran's direction. The claw caught the ducking Feran by the throat, the sharp talons digging into his neck and tearing it out.

The feran gurgled as blood spouted from the slashing hole in his throat, and collapsed to the floor, twitching. Savron grimmaced in revultion as the dragon clutched at his throat, vainly attempting to hold the blood in as it gushed out of his torn throat. Then, the purple rushed over to Lyrith, who stood shakily beside the dying drake, shivering.

"Thanks." Lyrith murmured, looking up at Savron gratefully, the magical fear still clinging to him.

Savron smiled. "No problem."

A low groan drew their attention. The feran Savron had struck with lightning lay on the ground, moaning in pain as he tried to rise, his limbs shaky. Savron started over to the feran, his expression grim. An earth powered punch from Savron knocked the jungle dragon's lights out, and it slumped back to the ground, unmoving. Miranda whimpered pitifully as Savron rushed over to her. Her paws were clasped over her injury, only slowing the bright flow of blood pouring out from the hole in her torso.

Lyrith limped up beside them, and looked down at Miranda pitingly. "Do you think she'll be okay?" The white asked, his expression exahusted from all that had happened that day. Savron shook his head.

"I don't know, but we have to get her to the infirmiry." Savron grunted, looking up at Lyrith. "You carry her, I'll clear a path."

Lyr blinked in surprise, stupified by the authority in which the lax purple spoke. Savron stared Lyrith straight in the eye, his green ones hard and dangerous. The flickers of darkness had faded, but were still present all across his body.

"Wrap her wound up, pick her up, and follow me."

Lyrith did as he was told, tearing a drape and binding it around Miranda's torso. He then hoisted her up, and draped her over his back. Once she was secure, Savron stepped out into the hall.

It was chaos. The female students of the Temple fought fang and claw against the invaders; and while the panthers and ferans were larger and better equiped than the students, they were outnumbered two to one. The students fought well for younger, smaller combatants, their training in combat classes serving them well.

As Savron stepped out of the room, a panther looked up from hacking down a fire dragoness, and grinned.

"So that's where you've been hiding!" The feline shouted, advancing towards the purple, backed by two ferans. Savron stood strong, unwavering as they neared.

He blew out a stream of intense fire at the ground between him and the invaders, causing them to jump back in alarm. The flames burned brightly, but left the three unscathed.

"Was that it?" One of the Feran's laughed, looking at Savron incredulously. "Was that all the power a **mighty** purple can bring to bear?"

Savron smirked and moved his paw into the darkness off to his right. Their shadows, which had flickered behind them from the light of the fire, rose up and impaled the three from behind like spears. The three howled as they were stabbed by their own shades, and fell writhing to the floor. Savron grimaced and stepped over the fading wall of fire, and out further into the hall. Lyrith glanced down stunned at the defeated soldiers as he moved passed them, awed at Savron's power.

A Feraness lunged at Savron, but didn't get far as a blast of green energy intecepted her, taking her to the ground in a heap.

"What are you doing here? Sav? Lyrith?" Tirren demanded, worming her way towards the two.

"It's good to see you too, Rin." Savron smirked. His smiled quickly faded as another dragoness was stabbed and fell crying to the ground. The purple raised a paw, and slammed it against the ground. The invader's cried out in surprise as blocks of earth burst out of the ground, and clamped around their ankles.

"Get down!" Savron roared to the students, who had stopped fighting as the invaders attempted to free themselves from the stone. Everyone dove for cover as arcs of lighting exploded out of Savron. The bolts of electricity ripped out in every direction, over the students and towards whatever grounded object they could find, which happened to be the assassins.

The invaders screamed as the electricity slammed into them, coursing through their body, and down towards the ground, stopping hearts and burning away flesh. Savron slumped once the burst of energy had been expended, and sat down, panting. All of the students stood, and looked around at what remained of the panthers and ferans. All eyes turned to Savron, who stood and cleared his throat.

"Alright. Everyone, listen up!" Savron shouted, his voice ringing out in the sudden silence. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm not going to stand idly by while some assholes attack our home and school! I want all the injured to gather up in a group. Those who can't walk get carried. Everyone who're not injured, or carrying someone injured, will form a wedge around the group. I'll take point. We're heading for the infimiry, and we'll take down anyone who tries to stop us!"

The dragonesses only hesitated for a moment before following his instructions, moving across the corridor, gathering up all the wounded. Only a few had to be carried, and most of the injured could still fight, so little fuss was made. The group gathered quickly, forming into a wedge shape with the wounded in the middle. Once everyone was in position, Savron lead the way.

Lyrith, trapped in the middle of the formation, couldn't help but notice that Savron was no longer standing in his usually slouchy posture. He stood tall and proud, his purple scales gleaming in the torch light. He looked every bit the son of the heroes who had become legend amoung the realms. A sudden smirk spread across Lyrith's face, and he adjusted Miranda on his back, so that they could both be more comfortable.

_"Who knew he had it in him?"_

* * *

Spyro shifted fitfully in his sleep, caught between the world of dreams, and reality. He shuffled over on his bed, and snuggled up closer to Cynder, enjoying the warmth of her body, and the rise and fall of her breathing. Yet something was amiss. Something was wrong, and he could feel it. An old sensation he hadn't felt in years tickled at him, touching his senses, but not fully registering, holding him back from the rest he so greatly desired.

A soft grunting noise roused the already halfwoken Spyro from his slumber, and shattered his last vestiges of sleep. Spyo grumpily opened one eye, and looked around. It was then that he recognized the feeling, a feeling of danger, of wrongness. The battle senses that Spyro had accumulated so many years ago were screaming at him, weakened from more than a decade of inactiviy. Spyro stiffened momentarily as it prickled down his spine, before forcing his body to relax.

Now fully on the alert, Spyro listened intently to his surroundings, waiting to hear the noise again. He picked up on it almost immediately, the telltale shifting noise of an intruder... a group of intruders, attempting to move silently through a dark, unfamiliar room. Spyro mumbled, and shifted his head closer to Cynder's.

"Cynder." He breathed, so lightly that one standing next to them could not have detected it. She moved over lightly, and shifted her muzzle closer to Spyro's.

"You heard it too." She murmured, not even making it a question. Spyro gave the barest grunts, and Cynder rolled over slightly. Spyro edged away from Cynder, not enough to be noticeable, but enough so they would not impede each other's movements when they rose.

The pair lay together, breathing low and steadily, occasionally snuffling and shifting around as they listened and waited. From their hanging bed, Spyro heard the shifting come to a stop. The purple waited for a tense moment, ears strained. The faint sound of beating wings echoed through the room, clearly audible in the dead silence of their chambers. Spyro cracked an eye open and saw two adult dragons hovering, just beyond the vieled curtains surrounding their bed.

They hung their for a moment, before gently landing on the edge of the platform. The sudden addition of the dragons' weight caused the platform to swing, the massive chains holding the bed up creaking and groaning as they adjusted. In the dim light, Spyro could finally make out the intruders. Two crimson ferans stood stalk still, hardly daring to breath as the platform rocked back and forth.

Once the platform had settled, the two maned dragons moved cautiosly over to the massive bed the heroes lay on, raising their armoured talons to strike.

Cynder exploded out of bed like a coiled spring, and slammed into one of the ferans, snarling. Her sudden rush sent the two tumbling off the side of the platform. Cynder positioned the screaming feran below her as they fell, and landed with a sickening crunch of crushed bones as they landed on top of a panther. The impact reduced the feline to a red paste, and snapped the wings and spine of the feran who had been unlucky enough to be ambushed by Cynder. The black dragoness leapt off of the howling feran, unaffected by the fall, her victim having absorbed most of the impact.

Spyro followed Cynder out of the bed half a second after her. He whirled around, and slammed his tail into the second feran, hurling him off the bed. The crimson dragon crashed into the wall, and fell dazed to the ground far below. Spyro hurled himself off the bed, and glided down, watching Cynder leap off the first feran, and twirl around to confront the intruders.

The remaining three ferans, and four panthers glanced between the two with shock and fear as they were flanked, Cynder advancing from one side, Spyro landing on the other. The two as they landedclosed in for the kill, and the would be assassins howled their battle cries, and charged, hoping to swarm the two heroes.

Spyro cleaned the blood from his talons with a fresh stream of water from his muzzle as he and Cynder stood amoung the wreckage of their room. The corpses of the invaders scattered across the floor like discarded, blood soaked dolls. Spyro's purple scales were spattered with blood, while Cynder was all but drenched in it. She moved about the room, stabbing the cadavers with her tail blade, checking to see if any were alive. None were.

Spyro glanced over the dead littering their floor, staring at them in puzzlement.

_"But... Why?"_ He thought, trying to work out what exactly had just happened. _"Why did they attack us? We had **just** finished working out our treaty?. We had reached a consensus. Why attack us now, when they have nothing to gain, and everything to lose?"_

Spyro turned to ask Cynder what she thought of all this, and saw her rushing over to Savron's room. Spyro froze, suddenly terrified. He bolted after Cynder, who threw open Savron's door.

"HE'S NOT HERE!" Cynder yelled, turning to look at Spyro fearfully.

Spyro glanced into the room himself, and then lookked over the slim, black dragoness.

"Let's go find him. I don't know exactly what's going on, but there's no doubt it's dangerous to be out and about right now."

"No duh, Violet." Cynder grumbled, gliding down the the exit. Spyro followed and the two barged out into the hall. Distantly they heard shouts and sounds of combat, and the two dragons stopped to figure out which way they should go. Spyro glanced down each hall furtively, hoping to see some sign of his son, when something else caught his eye. The purple dragon moved over to the nearest window, and gasped. Cynder stepped up beside him to see what was the matter.

The Temple gardens burned. The beautiful trees, flower beds and shrubs were cloaked in swaths of bright flames. The carefully groomed groves and glades were consumed in raging fire, black smoke billowing up over the walls and into the sky. Trees crashed to the ground as they were eaten away by the voracios flames, and birds flocked up into the sky to escape the destruction.

"Oh no." Cynder whispered, staring in horror. "No no no."

Spyro scanned the blazing foliage, his amethyst eyes anguished as he watched years of work burned to ash in mere minutes. His gaze caught on the sky blue scales of a young ice dragon, who bolted through the burning trees, chased by three torch bearing panthers. The felines laughed and joked as they toyed with the student, who vainly tried to outrun his tormentors.

"Shit." Spyro hissed, turning and running off to the nearest landing pad. Cynder saw the figures moments later, and growling, took off after her mate. Spyro reached the landing pad, and hurled hiself off. He sped down towards the group of panthers far below, his body glowing bright green as he fell. The purple dragon slammed into the three panthers like a coment, the emerald energy he had gathered up around him exploding out, sending up a massive spray of dirt and stone.

Spyro shook himself, and climbed out of the crater he had formed, the blast of magic having cushioned his fall. The ice drake lay dazed on the ground, stunned by the explosion that had so nearly blown him away.

"Are you alright, Sleet?" Cynder asked, as she landed. The scrawny ice dragon nodded blearily.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Spyro murmured, helping Sleet to his paws. Sleet shook his head.

"I... I don't know. I was just doing some training routines Lyr showed me a while ago so I would be in shape for next semester. Then out of nowhere, those panther's attacked. I panicked and fled." Sleet looked down shamefaced.

Spyr nodded. "It's okay to have retreated. Those weren't training dummies, and you were out numbered. There's no shame in fleeing against such odds."

Sleet sighed and nodded.

"Have you seen Savron around?" Cynder asked as they started moving off, Sleet standing between the two heroes.

"Um... Not since dinner no." Sleet murmured, shaking his head.

"Damn." Cynder spat. "What is he thinking? Running off in the middle of the night without telling us where he'll be!"

The three exited the burning gardens, and moved towards the Temple gates, where they found a pitched battle raging between the Temple guards and the invaders. The ferans and panther's fought desprately against the guards, but were slowly being surpressed. Flame led the guardsmen, clad in his flame patterned armour, he sent swaths of bright blue flames into the enemy lines. Spyro and Cynder moved into the fray, keeping Sleet close. They closed the distance between them and the red dragon captain, occasionally batting away a spear and blasting the jungle dwellers with their magic.

They arrived to find Igneous fighting alongside his father, hurling fireballs into the attacker's lines, scattering them.

"Flame, what's going on!" Spyro shouted over the din as they neared the massive fire dragon. Flame gave Spyro a quick look, and then returned his gaze to the fight around them.

"Some of these bastards snuck into the Temple and started attacking the students and staff. These fellows appeared when we tried to sound the alarm."

Spyro cursed. "We can't find Sav, did you happen to see him?"

"Sav's gone missing?" Igneous cried, looking up at Spyro as he burned the fur off of a panther. Cynder nodded in conformation. Sleet bit his lip anxiously, and stepped back as a sword swing came a little too close to him for comfort. Igneous dodged a spear thrust and looked up at his father imploringly. Flame sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Go, you'll be safer with them anyway." Flame grunted, knocking the weapon out of a panther's hands, and blasting it in the face with a blaze of fire.

Igneous looked back over at Spyro and Cynder, and grinned. "Okay, let's go." The red dragon wove through the combatants, back towards the Temple, Spyro, Cynder and Sleet all tailing Igneous as he went. Behind them, Flame shouted incouragement to his men.

"Keep formation! Don't break line! We'll beat these bastards back out of our home if it's the last thing we do!"

Igneous led the three into the Temple, and stopped in the great hall, looking around. Spyro came to a halt behind him.

"So, where do you think he is?" The purple dragon asked, looking down the many corridors anxiously. Igneous grinned.

"Well, if he snuck out this late, than there's really only one place he could..."

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you two!" A small, furious voice called out scornfully. All four dragons turned to look as Sparx appeared, buzzing up to the purple dragon, glaring.

"Sparx! I'm glad to see you're okay!" Spyro chuckled, relieved. Sparx rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, we all know that you couldn't live without me, chunky. But I'm not here for pleasatries. In case you haven't noticed, the WHOLE TEMPLE IS UNDER ATTACK!" Sparx shouted, flying over and gripping Spyro by the nostrils so he could look into Spyro's eyes.

"Yeah, we noticed, nightlight. Thanks for stating the obvious." Cynder sighed. Sparx glared over at the black dragoness heatedly.

"Well maybe I won't tell you where Savron is then." Sparx huffed, turning his head away from Cynder angrily. Cynder's annoyed expression changed from dour, to hopeful.

"You know where he is!"

"Of course." Sparx grunted, glancing back at Cynder. "**You** were the one who made me tail him wherever he goes, remember?"

"Where is he?" Spyro sighed, relieved. Sparx winked.

"Oh, in the female's corridors again." The dragonfly chuckled.

Igneous laughed. "I knew it!"

"Yeah, the tyke went off and met up with Miranda for a little... well, anyway, a bunch of these psychos burst in, stabbed Miranda, and attacked Savron. I went straight off to find you two, but you weren't in your rooms." Sparx sighed dramatically. "Do you have any idea how many times I could have gotten squished trying to tell you all this!"

Cynder turned to Sparx, and smiled sardonically. "I'm sure it wasn't nearly as many as you think it was, Nightlight. Now could you show us to Sav?"

"Say please." Sparx grumbled, turning his back on the black dragoness.

"Please?" Cynder smiled, flashing her white fangs winningly.

"And have Ember make me a butterfly sufflea once this is all over." Sparx demanded.

Cynder rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"And..."

Cynder glared at Sparx, and the dragonfly's mouth shut.

"Alright, alright, don't be so pushy." The golden dragonfly buzzed off down the hall leading into the female's corridor, and Spyro gave a small snicker.

"He never learns, does he?" Spyro chuckled. Cynder eyed her mate as they started after the dragonfly, her eyes twinkling.

"You tell me, he's your brother."

The sound of combat reached them just as they reached the females' chambers, and hurriedly, the group changed course. They followed the noise to a small crossroads in the corridors, and stumbled upon a small scale war tearing up the hallway.

A cluster of students bore through a squad of invaders, carving through their ranks like a knife through wet paper. Leading the group, Savron blazed through the enemy, opening the way for the rest of the wedge to push through.

The purple and black dragons decended upon the remnants of the attackers, tearing the unsuspecting ferans and felines to shreads in a matter of seconds.

Savorn sighed in relief as his parents mopped up the last of their attackers, and sat down, grinning gratefully.

"Thanks mom, da..."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE FEMALES' CORRIDOR!" Cynder shrieked, stepping over and glaring down at Savron, bringing down all of her fury and worry upon Savron's head. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED WE WERE WHEN WE FOUND YOU MISSING!"

"Mom." Savron murmured, raising a claw. "Can we..."

"I had thought they might have taken you hostage, or worse!" Cynder continued, cutting off Savron's interuption.

"Mom." Savron tried again, his voice raising in volume.

"Not to mention..."

"WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME!" Savron roared, glaring up at Cynder angrily. The black dragoness blinked in surprise at the commanding tone in his voice, and Spyro stared at his son, shocked.

"You can lecture me in front of the entire school later." Savron growled, lowering his voice to its normal volume. "But getting the injured to safety is far more important than scolding me for ever little stupid thing I've done in the past hour. Will you help us or not?"

Cynder swallowed her anger down, and nodded. "Fine. Spyro, guard the rear, I'll lead the way."

The formation quickly formed up again, and they swiftly made their way through the halls towards the infirmiry. Sliding through rooms, padding down stairs, and punching through small groups of invaders.

"We're almost there!" Tirren shouted as they rounded the corner, into the hall where the infirmiry was located. "Just a little more and..."

The crowd faltered at the sight of a mob of panthers and ferans swarming the infirmiry. Only two dragons held the infirmiry against the invaders. The chill blue Ice Guardian Cyril, and the flourecent pink Ember.

Cyril swatted at the coming assassins, knocking weapons aside and freezing them in place with quick blasts of liquid ice. Ember beat at the coming soldiers, clawing and biting, forcing them back, though her movements were less swift and sure. Cynder sped up her pace, rapidly closing in on the fight.

A panther swung a blade desprately at Ember's flank as it fell, blood gushing from it's torn throat. The blow landed, slashing open Ember's side. The pink dragoness roared in pain, rearing up and taking a deep breath. She expelled the breath with a howl, and a solid bar of white flames exploded out of her muzzle. Ember swept it in an arc across the attacking force, the intense beam of fire burning all it touched to cinders in less than a second. She carved a swath through the jungle dweller's ranks, dozens of attackers dying instantly as they were disintegrated. The survivors of the blast took one look at the pink dragoness, who sat down panting in exertion, and fled.

Cyril stood pressed up against the wall, keeping as far away from the blast zone as he could, and glared over at Ember.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! My pure ice dragon liniage doesn't give me next to no protection against your **hellfire**!"

Ember looked over at Cyril and giggled. "Oh don't be such a sourpuss! It didn't get anywhere near you!"

"Are you two alright?" Cynder asked asshe came to a stop by the two dragons. Ember nodded, her cheeful expression turning dour.

"**We** are. but Aquina is overworked with all the wounded. And Volteer..." Ember trailed and kicked a pile of ash laying nearby. Cyril closed his eyes, and shook his head.

"Is there something wrong with Volteer!" Spyro asked anxiously. "Is he hurt, or..."

Ember sighed. "He's not hurt, not physically anyway."

Cynder's eyes softened. "Oh no."

Ember nodded and opened the door. "Spyro and Cynder are here, with more students." The pink dragoness called, ushering in the students. She stopped Igneous as he started to pass, and hugged him tightly. "Oh Iggy, I was so worried about you. Is Flame..."

"Dad's down by the gates holding off the rest of the panthers and ferans." Igneous answered, hugging his mom back.

Ember sighed in relief, and let the young red go after one more tight squeeze. "Okay, now you get inside, your friends are all in there."

Igneous nodded, and rushed in after his friends.

Lyrith sighed in relief as he laid Miranda down on one of the spare cots. The makeshift bandage he had wrapped around her was stained red, and she had long ago lost conciousness. Lyrith sat down and looked around the room, the all prevading sound of groans and sobs drowing out all other sounds.

The room was jampacked with students and staff, most sitting on the ground, huddled up with friends. Physicians ran amoung the cots, treating the injured as quickly as they could, before moving on to the next patient. The smell of blood and sick mixed with antibiotics created a sour tang in the air that cloyed at the Albino's nostrils, turning his stomach.

"Oh no no no." Savron moaned as he passed, and Lyrith glanced up to see the purple rushing over to the other side of the room. Lyr got up and followed after, dazed. The purple and white dragons arrived at a small cot, which Typhous and Volteer crowded around, distressed, horrified expressions creasing their faces.

On the cot, Zindy lay, sprawled out over the cushions, her paws were clasped over a large bandage, which wound around her stomach. Blood stained the whole cloth red, and her face was screwed up in an expression of pain.

"Owie. Owie. Owie..." She whimpered, tears streaking down her young face as she clutched at her wound.

"D... Don't worry Zindyala." Voltleer whispered tears flowing openly from his eyes as he brought yet another life crystal to her muzzle. "You... You'll be f...fine in no time."

"Oh Zindy." Savron choked, tears blurring his vison. "How could this happen to you?"

Lyrith looked between them, the world spinning around him as the moans and cries of the victims rang through Lyrith's head. The white dragon slowly sat down, his veritgo sending his mind reeling. Lyr's paws shook uncontrollably as he rested on his haunches, bile rising up in his throat. He sat there, motionless, eyes blank as he watched the life he had finally grown accostomed to, fall apart around him.

* * *

The fires raged in the Temple gardens, left unchecked as the battle tore through the Temple. The clash of metal and sounds of screams echoed throughout the hallowed academy, like a horrible, symphony of despair. In the distance, the town at the foot of the Temple had lit up as the alarms sounded. Villagers rushed up to the Temple, bearing water and sand to put out the flames. Smoke billowed up, black and impenitrable as fire licked the top of the Temple walls.

Jaxar and Travix stood atop the highest point on the walls, watching the carnage below with interest.

"Hm... They're putting up a better fight than I thought they vould." Travix grunted, watching as their soldiers mounted yet another charge on the line of guardsmen protecting the Temple entrance. Jaxar chuckled, and sipped from the flask of wine he held in one gloved hand.

"It wont be long now. Once they regroup, they'll crush all the opposition they face." Jaxar murmured, his stained red fangs gleaming in the light of the forest fire blazing below. Travix snickered and tossed the last of his cheetah leg bone over the wall, and into the garden. The blood dragon shifted so that he was lying on his back, and sighed.

"That wash hardly filling at all! I'm shtill hungry!"

Jaxar shook his head, and smiled condesendingly. "It's your own fault that you chose to play with your food. Half of it went to waste by the time you actually started eating."

Travix sighed again, mournfully. "I know, I know. Nexsht time I'll be more careful. It'sh jusht..."

"Lord Jaxar!"A gruff voice called, and both the sorcerer and the blood dragon glanced over to the newcomer. An older feran raced onto the platform that they sat on, and bowed to the purple clad half-breed. "Lord Jaxar, we are being forced back! We've lost more than two thirds of our men in this battle alone, and reinforcements from the village are on their way! If we keep this up, we'll be slaughtered!"

Jaxar sniffed and looked away. "I know." He stated, matter-of-factly.

The feran glanced up at Jaxar, confused. "You know!" He demanded, standing up and staring at the sorcerer. "Then why haven't you called a retreat yet! Why haven't you and your familiar," The soldier glanced at Travix, and then back at Jaxar. "entered the fray yet? Surely with your power..."

Jaxar stood up, and shook his head, raising a hand up outward in front of him.

"Oh nononono! That would be entirely agains the plan!" Jaxar exclaimed, waving his hands as if to ward off the bad suggestion. The feran sighed in relief.

"You have a plan? Excellent. What is it, may I ask? An extra battalion of soldiers? Some magical constructs or monsters you'll conjure up?"

Jaxar shook his head and laughed, turning to look back out over the Temple.

"Oh none of those things. I think the plan is working out quite well, don't you agree, Travix?" Jaxar asked, gesturing out to the battle field. Travix nodded in agreement, a twisted grin spreading across his features. The soldier stared at Jaxar incredulously, an expression of horror drawing across his muzzle.

"You... You mean your plan is to have us all killed?" He roared, taking a step forward. "Why? Whay have we done to deserve this! Why has the king ordered us to attack this place!"

Jaxar flashed his crooked fangs in a wide grin, and lifted the seal he wore off of his chest. He flicked it, and the gold and silver of the medalion melted away like hot wax. Jaxar held up the thong of leaver, and the feran gasped, taking a step back in shock. Where the seal had once hung, now only a simple river stone remained.

"You... You were never in the service of king!" The feran screamed, eyes growing wild. "You lied to us! You betrayed his majesty and dragged us along with you! You'll pay for..."

The feran never finished as Travix slammed into him, moving faster than the blink of an eye. The blood dragon tore the feran's throat out with his monsterous fangs, and clamped his muzzle to the gushing wound, sucking down all the blood that poured out.

Jaxar grinned. "I may have betrayed **your** king, fool, but I have served **my** king well."

Travix swallowed down several muzzlefuls of the feran's blood, and then looked up, smacking his muzzle. His long, barbed tongue cleaning his muzzle and face of blood, as he thoughtfully tasted his meal.

"Shtrong, veathered, but shlightly exhotic. Well sheasoned, with a shmokey oak aftertaste... Oh thish is very good!" The blood dragon grinned, returning his attention to the now dead dragon before him. His fangs flashed as he gorged himself on the feran. First sucking the corpse dry of all blood, and then feasting on its tough, dry flesh.

Jaxar sighed and shook his head, glancing down at the battle. The last of the panthers and ferans were being butchered by the Temple guards, and the fresh soldiers from the village. Many tried to flee, but were quickly brought down by arrows, or blasts of magic.

"It looks like it's time to get moving." Jaxar grunted, looking over to the Travix. The blood dragon looked up from his meal, sighing.

"Already?" He whined, getting up and whiping his face clean of excess blood. Jaxar nodded, and Travix sighed again. "And I wash finally shtarting to enjoy myshelf." The blood dragon grumbled, stepping up beside the purple clad sorcerer. Jaxar patted Travix's shoulder sympathetically.

"I know, I know. But it's time to leave, the party is over." Jaxar glanced back over his shoulder, over to the Temple and smiled sadly. "It was nice getting to come back here and visit again, though. So many memories."

Jaxar returned his attention to Travix and traced his finger through the air. A trail of blue energy cut through the air where he traced, and it quickly formed into a doorway. Jaxar put his hand up against the door, murmured an incantaion, and pushed it open. The hot air of the jungle rushed out through the gateway, occompanied by the sounds of the jungle wildlife.

Jaxar gestured for Travix to enter first, and the blood dragon begrudgingly stepped into the doorway, vanishing as he moved from one place, to another. Jaxar cast one final look over his shoulder, and smiled.

"Don't forget your part of the bargain!" He laughed, his eyes moving a small patch of shadows clustered behind a statue on the wall. Then he turned back to the portal, and slipped through it as well. The gateway vanished as he passed through, leaving the burning gardens, bodies and screams of the dying, behind him.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang: (Savron, Lyrith, Vash, Danrah, Igneous, Zindy, Tirren, Sleet, Typhous.)

Inferna.

Royal families: (Pyron, Kohl, Blaze, Diatrax, Albiard, Cyrine.)

Charah, Torch, Wintra

Ramolous, Jaxar, Travix.

Ugh. This took so long to finish. A record (for me) 18000 words. ^^

To be honest, I cried a bit while writing this chapter. It's so sad. Especially what happened to Zindy... :'(

Anyway, so much happened in this chapter, that I'm tired just thinking about all of it. Torch's trial, which I hope was satisfying enough for all of you. Savron's training, which was all off the top of my head. And the attack. Now things really start to get intense and dark. I imagine you can guess what'll happen next.

Also, I'm sorry to leave you all hanging like this, but I'm going to be taking a short break from writing. You see, I've been so eager with these last couple chapters, that I haven't taken the time to catch up with my rough copies. This means that I have no material to use at the moment. Therefor I'll be taking a break, no longer than two months, and likely no shorter than one month, to catch up on my rough drafts. Once I'm done, I'll be able to update fairly frequently, as I won't have to write any more rough drafts between good copies any more. So, once again, sorry, but you'll have to wait to see the aftermath of this battle. :(

I will be online though, so you're all welcome to PM me if you have something to say. =)

Ps. Just for the record, Iggy didn't inherit his power from Flame. XD


	22. Shattered

Chapter 22. Shattered

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. My booty is shaking, and I can't control my urges. Oh baby, I'ma so sorry. In other news, several of my other characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

"Malicina! Malicina!" Lyrith cried, rushing over to the female Albino, embracing her leg. "I'm done all my chores! Can we play now?"

Malicina glanced down at the small white dragon clutching her leg bouncing up and down, and grinned. She extracted her leg rom his grip, and resumed mopping.

"Just a little longer, I'm almost done."

Lyrith pouted and sat down, fidgeting, waiting impatiently for Malicina to finish. Malicina smirked at Lyr's pouty frown and proceeded to mop up the last of the crud on the lobby floor. It was early afternoon at the Dragon's Glade Orphanage and Hatchery and the orphans inside worked on their chores. They grumbed and groaned as they mopped up the halls, mournfully glancing outside through the windows at the sparkling snow outside. A mole secretary lounged across the hall, toying with a quill as he watched the orphans work, bored.

Malicina wiped up the last dirty speck on her section of the floor, and squeezed the mop out into her bucket.

"There, all done." Malicina grinned. Lyrith stood up excitedly.

"So can we play now!" He chirped.

Malicina nodded.

"Yes!" He cheered, hopping up and down joyfully.

With Lyrith's help, the Albino dragoness heaved the bucket of filthy water over into the mess room, and dumped it out into the drain, gagging as the water splashed against them. After storing the bucket and mop away, Malicina allowed Lyrith to guide her out the back door, into the playground.

The ground was carpeted in a thick layer of packed snow which glittered in the sunlight like billions of tiny diamonds. Lyrith pranced across the icy ground, and over to the toy box which rested beside the oak tree in the center of the playground. The play ground was deserted, all of the other orphans still inside completing their chores, leaving the colourless dragons with a large selection of toys to choose from.

Lyrith dove into the toy box, and eagerly shifted through it, looking for something to play with. Malicina glanced over the trove of playthings, and picked out a ball.

"Let's play with this." The white dragoness murmured, looking over at the Albino dragonling. Lyrith looked up at Malicina, his eyes brightening.

"Yeah! Let's play ball!"

Malicina grinned, and set off into the field behind the tree, the ball clutched in her muzzle. Lyrith stumbled along beside her, his overlarge paws slipping and sliding across the icy ground. Malicina dropped the ball in the center of the field, and set up two goal posts on either end using some sticks. Once she was finished, Malicina sidled up to Lyr, who sat fidgeting by the ball. She looked down at him, her orange eyes sparkling in amusement.

"Okay, a point is scored when the ball goes between your opponent's posts. Tail and paws are allowed, no wings, and no carrying the ball in your muzzle, got it?" Malicina instructed imperiously. Lyrith nodded emphatically.

"Okay, let's go!"

Lyr swatted at the ball in front of him, and sent it spinning off to his right. Malicina pounced on it, and batting the ball between her paws, and turned towards the goal. Lyr scuttled after her, moving as fast as he could to catch up over the slick ground. The white dragoness took off towards the goal, moving at a brisk trot so that Lyrith still had a fair chance of keeping up with her. Lyrith bolted after the white dragoness, stumbling as he hit icy patches, but still managing to close the ground between them with remarkable speed.

Lyrith reached her just as she neared the goal, and tossed himself at the ball, hoping to get it away from the white dragoness. Malicina nimbly kicked the ball out of his reach, causing him to crash face first into the snowy turf. Malicina whirled around and smacked the ball into his goal with a flick of her tail.

Lyrith climbed to his paws and shook the snow off of himself, grinning.

"Can you teach me how to do that!" He begged, racing over to retrieve the ball. Malicina sat down, smirking and nodded.

"Sure, you should at least have a grasp of the basics before we play a real game anyway, otherwise it would be no fun for either of us."

"Awesome!" Lyrith beamed, dropping the ball down between them. "Thanks Malicina!"

"No problem, squirt." The Albino dragoness chuckled. "The first thing you have to learn, is to dribble the ball. And no, I do not mean dribble on the ball; that's just gross."

Malcina took the ball between her forepaws, and started batting it back and forth between them, rolling it over the icy ground. Then, she rose off of her haunches, and took a step forward, batting the ball gently, and using the momentum of her swing, to carry her paw forward in a step. Then, catching the ball with her other paw, she swatted it again, using it to take her another step, faster this time.

"Dribbling makes it difficult for other players to steal the ball from you so you can pass or score." Malicina explained, her swats growing swifter as she demonstrated how to run with the ball. "You try."

Malicina passed the ball over to Lyrith, coming to a stop where she had originally sat, slightly out of breath. Lyrith grabbed the ball, nearly losing it as it sped over the ground, and steadied it between his paws. He practiced dribbling it between his tiny paws for a bit, and once he felt he had a knack for it, swatted it out in front of him. He reached out with his other paw to catch it, using his swing to carry his paw forward in a step, and landed flat on his face.

Malicina snickered as Lyrith picked himself up, pouting. "You're kicking the ball too hard, and reaching out too far to catch it, unbalancing yourself." Malicina explained, retrieving the ball. "Here, try again, just don't use so much force this time." Malicina said, dropping the ball in front of Lyr.

The small white dragon nodded, and took the ball. He bounced it between his paws once more, and when he had a feel for it, he hit the ball and took a step forward. He caught it with his other paw as he stepped with it. Lyr laughed delightedly and batted the ball again.

He got five more steps before he kicked too hard, jumped forward to catch the ball, and slipped on an icy patch of earth. Malicina struggled to keep from chuckling as Lyrith got up and shook the snow from his face and horns. He snorted, and grabbed the ball again.

An hour passed with Malicina showing Lyr the basics of playing ball. He grasped the dribbling after a few more tries, and then they moved on to various other essential techniques. The playground slowly filled up as time passed, and the Albinos' field shrunk as other orphans claimed chunks of it.

"Alright, now, spin like this!" Malicina instructed, twirling about and sweeping her tail. "Make sure you stop before your tail gets in line with your destination, otherwise you'll overshoot."

"Okay." Lyrith squeaked, the tip of his tongue poking out in concentration as he prepared himself for the swing. He spun, and swiped at the ball with his tail, sending it spinning into the goal. Malicina clapped, grinning, and Lyrith turned to bow, tripped over his own paws, and tumbled to the ground. Malicina gave a short bark of laughter, and then helped the small white back up.

"Excellent! Now we have to try shooting while..."

A sudden ringing of pots and pans snapped everyone's attention over to the orphanage door. A female terrier held two pots up over her head, and banged them together.

"Dinner time!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, face flushed from the cold. The orphans swarmed in like a tidal wave of bodies, swamping the terrier in their mad rush for food. Malicina lost her grip on Lyrith as they entered the lobby, and separated.

"Meet me at our usual table!" Malicina cried out over the frantic nose. Lyrith waved his tail in response, though he doubted she could see it. The orphans' mad rush to the mess hall turned into a line as they reached the food counter, stretching all the way out into the lobby.

Lyrith stood, bouncing impatiently from paw to paw as he waited for his turn. His stomach growled achingly, eager to be filled. Saliva filled his muzzle at the smell of hot food, and he swallowed, clenching his fangs as he moved forward in line.

The line edged forward, and inch by inch, Lyrith closed the distance between him and the food table. His progress was occasionally impeded by cutters and bullies shoving ahead of him, but he moved forward regardless. Ahead of him, Malicina left the food counter, and waved to Lyr as she passed, moving over to the table they shared. Lyr waved back, and took yet another step towards the table.

By the time Lyrith had reached it, only scraps remained, cold and picked over. Lyrith gathered up as many of the meatiest chunks he could find, and then set off towards Malicina, all but drooling over his meal.

"So, loser, what do you have for us today?" A snide voice drawled. Lyrith sagged, and looked over beside him at the group of dragons sitting to his right, his expression downcast. The group of dragons stepped away from their table and sneered down at the frail white, who gripped his platter between his forepaws. The leader of the three, a beefy fire dragon, glared down at Lyrith, his brown eyes intent. The bloated green that stood at his side, huffing and puffing, his expression dour. The third, a bright orange drake hung back, sneering spitefully down at Lyrith. He was almost as large as the green, though less round and longer of body.

Lyrith shivered as they approached, his red eyes squeezed shut.

"Well?" The red fire dragon demanded icily. Lyrith quaked and looked over at their table. Their platters were stacked with food from every dish on the table, portions of it missing from where the three stuffed their muzzles. Lyrith glanced back at the thugs, and swallowed hard.

"But... But you have so much food already." Lyrith whimpered. "You don't need..."

"I don't recall asking you about our meals, twerp." The red dragon hissed, baffing Lyr across the head with a paw. The white stumbled back, nearly dropping his plate, the red drake being more than twice his size.

"That won't be enough to fill us up, especially with **tubber** over there stealing some of our food." The orange drake sneered, gesturing at the green dragon. The green earth dragon huffed and muttered something about glands.

"Well?" The red dragon barked, rearing up so that he towered over Lyrith. The Albino dragonling shuddered, and then reluctantly pawed his platter over, his stomach growling in protest.

The red dragon grinned. "Smart move, twerp." He turned away from Lyrith, holding the platter between his paws, and smacked Lyr across the face with his tail, the sharp spike at the end scratching Lyrith's cheek. Lyr cried out in pained surprise, and clutched at his face with his now empty paws. The orphans around him laughed as he stood, eyes watering from pain, threatening to form into tears. He turned away as the group sat down and started to gorge themselves, and made his way back to his table.

"Where's your dinner, squirt? Eat it already" Malicina asked playfully as Lyrith sat down beside her. Lyrith shook his head sadly, and Malicina frowned, noticing the cut on his face.

"What happened?" She demanded, her expression turning serious.

Lyr looked away, shamefaced. "Some bullies stole my food." He mumbled, barely audible over the noise of the mess hall. His stomach growled in response.

Malicina's face darkened.

"Where are they?" Malicina murmured, her expression grim. Lyrith gestured over to the table the three were sitting at, stuffing their faces and laughing. Malicina stood up, and Lyrith glanced up at her, startled.

"No! Malicina! Don't! They're way to big and strong! You..."

"Follow me." Malicina commanded, striding purposefully over to the table. Lyrith obediently stood and followed, his eyes wide and anxious.

"Well what have we here!" The orange dragon chuckled as Malicina stepped up to the table, Lyr huddling behind her leg fearfully. "Baby went and tattled to mommy? Boo hoo."

The red dragon glanced over, and leered at Malicina. "Oh my, and who might you be? Didn't know that there was another white here in the orphanage." The red snickered, and gazed at Malicina, letting his eyes wander over her body suggestively. "Or one quite so attractive as yourself. I might be willing to ignore your white hide and give you a good ride or t..."

Malicina moved around the table, grabbed the red and green dragon's horns, and slammed their faces together. They howled, clutching at their muzzles as they toppled over. The orange drake cursed and got up, only for Malicina to dart forward, paws clenched, and punch him twice square in the gut. He gasped and staggered back. A third punch to the chin sent him crashing to the floor. The red and green dragons slowly rose to their paws, but a quick slap to each of their noggins convinced them to stay down.

Lyrith gazed stupefied at the sight of his tormentors lying face first on the ground, and many of the onlookers bore similar expressions. Malicina snorted, and glanced over at Lyrith, her expression softening to amusement.

"Well, help yourself. These dolts have very generously decide to share, **right**?" Malicina glanced down at the three floored drakes, her autumn eyes flashing dangerously. They nodded vigorously.

Lyrith beamed and rushed over to the table. He grabbed the red's plate, and shoveled extra food off of the other two's platters. He piled the food up until Malicina wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to carry the plate, then he picked it up. Lyrith wobbled a bit under its weight, but managed to hold it steady. The three bullies watched mournfully as the two Albinos made their way back to their table, leaving their dishes pitifully bare. The other orphans stared as Malicina and Lyrith took their seats, expressions incredulous. The moment Lyrith took his seat on the stiff cushion, he dug wholeheartedly into the platter, munching delightedly on his meal. Malicina watched him, smiling as he devoured as much as he could, packing the meat into his small frame with gusto.

"Slow down and enjoy it." Malicina laughed as Lyrith tried to shove an entire lamb chop into his muzzle. "You don't want to make yourself sick!"

Lyrith nodded, a chicken leg sticking out of his muzzle and carefully started to chew his food, eating with deliberate slowness. Malicina shook her head, and chuckled, before starting on her own meal.

Lyrith somehow managed to cram every crumb into his small, emaciated body, and then slouched contentedly on his cushion, forepaws resting on his swollen belly. Malicina giggled as he burped, and gazed dreamily into space, truly stuffed for the first time in years. The white dragoness finished the remnants of her meal daintily, stripping the last of the meat of her t-bone as she grinned over at Lyr.

"I'm done, want to go back out and practice some more?"

Lyrith sat up and nodded, blinking sluggishly. Malicina stood and together they brought their dishes over to the kitchen, where they gave them a good scrubbing. They had only just stepped out into the lobby, when a polite cough stopped them.

"I need to have a word with you two, Malicina, Lyrith." A cool, authoritative voice murmured from behind them. Lyrith froze, and glanced over fearfully at the speaker.

The blubbery mass that was the Mother waddled over to the whites, a stern expression creasing her jowls. Malicina scowled as the mother approached, and stood firm, Lyrith cowering fearfully behind her.

"What?" Malicina sighed as the Mother came to a stop. The flabby blue ice dragoness sneered down at Malicina, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"I know you're new here, Malicina, so I'll go easy on you just this once. There is to be no violence in the orphanage, and no stealing. **You** broke both of these rules today, Malicina." The Mother glared over at Lyrith, and shook her head. "Be grateful I'm in a good mood today, Lyrith, or I might have punished you for cooperating in this rule breaking."

Lyrith whimpered, and ducked even further back behind Malicina. The Mother smirked, and turned away.

"The next time you break anymore rules, you won't get away with a mere scolding." The mother waddled back across the hall, and squeezed through the hall leading to her office. Once she was out of sight, Malicina spat on the ground.

"Biased hypocritical bitch!" Malicina hissed, her orange eyes narrowing. Lyrith came out from behind Malicina, his eyed downcast, shuffling his paws around anxiously. Malicina looked to Lyrith, and closed her eyes, sighing.

"Come on, let's go out and play some ball. Don't let that lard tub frighten you." The Albino dragoness turned away, and padded slowly over to the back door. Lyrith cast one more nervous glance over to the Mother's office, before scampering after Malicina, following her out into the playground, jittering with excitement.

* * *

Ash and smoke filled the late afternoon sky over the Temple, blocking out the setting sun and casting dim shadows over the land below. The pure, white stone of the walls and spires of the Temple were streaked with grey grime from the long dead fires. The once magnificent gardens were gone, burned away by the raging fire. Only ash, charred earth and blackened stumps remained of the lush, verdant glades.

Down in the blasted courtyard Lyrith worked, clearing away the rubble and stumps from the burnt earth. The Albino heaved up a thick stone from a shattered statue, and dropped it into a cart pulled by an exhausted earth dragoness. Lyrith nodded to her tiredly, and she wheeled it away slowly, burdened down by all of the broken rock. Lyrith sat down on the steps of the Temple, panting lightly, eyes lidded. His body ached, muscles strained from hours of hard work. Lyrith's red eyes drifted around the courtyard, blearily watching the workers around him. Dragons, students, moles and canines moved around the gardens, picking up rubble and clearing away piles of ash.

Lyr's eyes fell upon Terrador, who was barking instructions to the work force. The Guardian of Stone was beaten and worn, having not slept for days. His shoulders sagged, and his eyes were red from long nights working. He patted a tired student on the shoulder with his paw as the young drake made his way into the Temple, too tired to continue. Hunter slipped out of the Temple from behind Lyrith, and jogged down over to Terrador, his red cloak ruffling in the still air as he moved. Hunter moved up beside the Guardian, and spoke to him, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. Terrador nodded, and turned, padding back to the Temple.

Terrador eyed Lyrith as he and Hunter passed, moving up the stairs and into the Temple. Lyrith watched them go curiously, wondering what they had spoken of, but too tired and self conscious to bother investigating. Lyrith gave himself a moment to catch his breath and then stood, blinking rapidly to clear his blurry vision of exhaustion. He stretched, and moved over to where a group of students were tearing a tree stump out of the earth. They nodded to Lyrith as he joined them, and pawed him a rope.

Tirren took a deep breath, and dug her claws into the earth beside the stump. A pulse of green energy ran through her and into the ground, the charred dirt suddenly loosening around the deadwood.

"Go." She grunted, her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. Lyrith and the rest of the group heaved, straining against the ropes.

"Come on! Heave!" A wind dragon shouted, putting everything he had into pulling his rope. The group redoubled their efforts, and little by little, the stump pulled free from the earth. Finally, after much heaving and grunting, the stump came free from the earth, huge clods of dirt following after it. The students sighed in relief, and all but collapsed to the ground, panting.

Lyrith eyed the burnt stump, his red eyes unfocused. The stump was easily twice his width, with dozens of paw sized roots tangling below it, clumps of dirt still clinging to the charred wood.

"Alright, who's, like, going to carry that thing?" An exhausted water dragon grumbled, examining their handy work.

"We'll I'm certainly not!" A slight fire dragoness exclaimed breathily. "It'll take at least three of us to carry that, and I'm not built for that kind of labour!"

"Allow me." A deep, resonant voice grunted off to the side, startling the group. They looked over at the speaker, and blinked in surprise as Thunder stepped up. The gigantic lightning dragon reared up on his hind paws and stretched, cracking his neck as he grabbed the stump. He lifted it up off the ground with a heave, and smirked down at the stunned gazes around him. He gritted his fangs and turned away, hobbling over to the growing pile of burnt wood that was stacked up against the Temple wall.

Lyrith watched him go, blinking in shock as the large yellow dragon vanished into the swarm of bodies.

"Well then, I didn't expect that." Tirren muttered, her expression as shocked as Lyrith's.

"Good work everyone." Inferna's soft, melodious voice cut through their silence. The students turned their heads toward the Guardian of Flame, who had come to a stop nearby. She smiled, and nodded to them, looking them over kindly. Her hazel eyes paused at Lyrith for a second, and then moved on.

"You've all done well today, go take the rest of the day off, you deserve it."

"YES!" The water dragon cheered, getting up and stretching. Groaning in relief, the students sat up and made their way back into the Temple, moving as quickly as their tired bodies were able. Inferna watched them go, a small smile creasing her drawn face.

"Ugh, I am **dead**, **beat**, **tired**!" Tirren exclaimed as she and Lyrith entered the Temple, padding wearily across the grand hall and over to their dormitories. Lyrith nodded in response, yawning widely.

"I think I'll go see if I can find Igneous." Tirren murmured, blinking slowly as she changed directions. "I'm sure I saw him go in a while ago. I hope he's not sleeping already, I haven't gotten to talk with him the entire day."

Lyrith grunted, and turned to go with her seeing nothing better to do. They walked for a time, speaking with servants and other students before finally coming to a stop at the library. There, sitting at one of the tables in the empty library, Igneous sat, chatting with Sleet and an oddly coloured silver dragon. The trio looked up as Lyrith and Tirren stepped into the room, and Sleet waved to them, grinning expansively.

"Hey Rin! Lyr! How're you doing?"

"As well as we could be." Tirren answered in hushed tones. "And don't forget to keep your voice down, this is a library after all."

"That's okay." Igneous murmured as the pair sat down opposite him. "There's nobody but us here, and Darius left for a meeting not long ago. We can speak as loudly as we want."

Tirren snorted and smiled fondly. Her eyes moved up to Igneous's and then away sharply. Her gaze fell upon the silver dragon who sat watching them, his blue eyes sparkling curiously. His bright silver scales shone brightly in the torchlight, reflecting back like mirrors, the light catching on his pale white underbelly and wing membranes.

"Who's this?" Tirren asked, raising an eye ridge as she settled in her seat. Sleet and Igneous glanced over at the silver dragon and grinned.

"Oh right, Lyrith, Tirren, this is Talon, an old friend of my family."

"Hello Lyrith, Tirren." Talon grinned, stretching a paw out to the two. Tirren took it first, smiling back. Lyrith gazed over at the silver dragon suspiciously, his red eyes cautious as he examined the finery the dragon wore.

"Talon is, or was, going to be a new student here at the Temple." Sleet explained as Lyrith took Talon's paw firmly, squeezing tight and gazing levelly into the silver dragon's eyes. Talon winced at the grip, but continued smiling as they shook paws, his eyes never leaving Lyrith's. Lyrith relaxed somewhat once the paw shake had broken, relieved at the friendly gaze the silver dragon gave him. "He was actually just about to take the test the day after the attack, but with everything that's happened..."

"I still want to study at the Temple." Talon cut it, grinning over apologetically at Sleet. "But I'm not sure when I'll be able to start, considering how my parents are reconsidering my enrollment. I'll make sure they don't change their minds, but it might take a while."

"I suppose that's just as well." Tirren shrugged, smiling at Talon gently. "Now isn't the best time to start up. Classes won't be starting for a few more days, or at least until most of the damage has been repaired, and we're stuck with helping clean up until then."

Talon nodded in begrudging agreement. "Yeah, I suppose so." He paused for a minute, and then looked over at Lyrith, grinning sheepishly. "So, uh... You're the white dragon I've heard all about? The first Albino student to be admitted?"

Lyrith nodded, his eyes narrowing.

"That's very impressive! I can't imagine how good you must be to impress the Guardians like that! You must be incredibly talented."

Lyrith grunted, hiding his embarrassment behind an indifferent mask. "I was lucky, that's all."

"I doubt that, you know rumours about you have spread as far as the coast. A lot of dragons are quite upset that their kids were turned down, while you got in, but many others are quite impressed with you."

Lyrith blinked in amazement. "Really?"

Talon nodded. "Yeah. It's mostly the nobles who are all uppity about it, but just about everyone else seems quite pleased. It makes them feel like they have a chance to get somewhere in the world, if an Albino like you could get so ... uh... sorry. I didn't mean any..."

Lyrith leaned back on his cushion, his head tilted back thoughtful as he processed this information, not entirely sure how to take the discovery of his growing fame. Talon waited a moment, and then sighed in relief as he realized that his unintended insult hadn't offended the white dragon.

"So... What kind of dragon are you? Are you a Sub-Element?" Tirren asked, breaking the silence, glancing over Talon's silver scales with interest.

Talon blushed faintly at the attention, and smiled. "Well, I'm a fire dragon."

Lyrith was jerked out of his contemplation and stared at Talon, both his and Tirren's expressions incredulous. Talon snickered at their dumbfounded faces.

"Really? Thats... I've never heard of a silver fire dragon before..." Tirren said stunned. Lyrith nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's a really, **really** rare mutation in my family." Talon explained, shrugging. "Only one out of every four or five generations have it."

"Is there... Anything else special about it?" Tirren asked, an eye ridge raised as she examined Talon. Igneous watched her eyeing the silver dragon, his expression tense as his grey eyes flicked back and forth between Tirren and Talon.

"Nope, it just changes my scale colour." Talon murmured, matter-of-factly. "Though I do find that I have a better resistance to some other magics too, like ice and stuff."

"Well it still sounds cool." Igneous grinned, waggling his eye ridges playfully.

Talon snorted at Igneous's ridiculous face, and slapped a paw to his face to keep from laughing out loud. Sleet and Tirren chuckled as Talon attempted to control himself, and a smirk broke over Lyrith's face as he failed, bursting into laughter.

A loud groan emanated from Sleet's stomach and the little dragon blushed, embarrassed. The others chuckled at Sleet's violet face, and Igneous slapped Sleet on the back.

"Now that you mention it, I'm starving too!" The big red dragon laughed, rising to his paws, and stretching the kinks out of his bulky frame.

"Yeah." Tirren agreed, putting a paw to her belly as it grumbled. "Same here. Have you been to the kitchens yet, Talon?" She asked, looking over at the silver dragon, an eye ridge raised.

The silver dragon shook his head, getting up and stretching as well. "Nope, but I'm pretty hungry too. It was a long trip to get here."

"Then how about we give you a tour?" Igneous snickered, turning to the library exit and padding over to the door. "I'll show you what all the best dishes are. My mom's the cook, so I'd know best."

"Okay." Talon grinned, following after the big red dragon. "Sounds great!"

Tirren smirked and rose to her paws as well, and Lyrith followed after her, his eyes still focused on Talon curiously, not sure what to make of the dragon. Together they exited the library, muzzles watering.

...

"Well... this is a pretty busy day for a... for a first day of work!" Dyama panted, grinning down at Voltlyn as they swept away the filth and debris out of the halls. Their tail-brushes swept back and forth as they moved backwards down the hall, brushing a pile of stone chips and other rubble towards the rubbish heap.

Voltlyn grinned tiredly up at her mother and nodded in response. "Yeah. Definitely a big first day."

The Temple corridor was littered with garbage and broken stone, the raging battle several days back having torn up much of the floor and walls. Statues lay smashed along the hall, and paintings and tapestries were brunt and torn from the conflict. The two lightning dragonesses worked side by side, alone in the hallways as they tidied up, clearing away all the filth and leaving a clean path along the corridors.

Dyama heaved up a hunk of stone that used to be a carved cheetah head, and grunting, waddled over to the rubbish pile and dropped it in with a sigh. The plump dragoness sat down with a plop, panting from the exertion, eyes shut as Voltlyn passed her with a stone of her own. Dyama's eyes cracked open as Voltlyn sat down beside her, breathing lightly. They surveyed their work, scanning the clean, albeit cracked marble tiles of the floor. Small heaps of dirt were piled up in the corners, residue of their sweeping, and chunks of rock too large for the pair to lift had been rolled to the side.

"I think we're getting close to finishing." Voltlyn murmured, glancing up at Dyama, her chest rising and falling with the motions of her breath.

"I hope so." Dyama said, nodding to the pile of rubbish that waited to be picked up. "To be honest I had never imagined that my work as the Guardians' paw maid would require this much muscle work..."

"Who would have figured?" Voltlyn sighed, smiling, turning away from her mother to look around once more at their accomplishment. They paused for a moment, catching their breath, before Voltlyn stood up, brushing her haunches clean of dust.

"Mom, I'm sorry that your first day at the Temple had to be so... so terrible..." The topaz dragoness murmured, looking away, her frontward curved horns flashing in the torch light. Dyama looked down at her daughter and smiled sadly.

"Oh don't be sorry, dear! You didn't have any control over what happened! I'm just glad you were there to keep me out of harm's way."

Voltlyn smiled wanly back at her mother, not sure what to say.

"When those horrible panthers and ferans came after me, I had no idea what to do! I was so scared that I was frozen in place and I probably would have died if you hadn't come along." Dyama stood and gazed down at Voltlyn, whose eyes were downcast, a faint smile creasing her embarrassed face.

"And then you came along, WHOOSH!" Dyama rose to her hind legs abruptly and danced down the corridor, mimicking the fighting style Voltlyn used. She tripped over a rock and stumbled up against a wall. Dyama laughed at the sudden rush of motion, and continued speaking breathlessly. "You came in a blaze of lightning and glory that shocked me, hehe, no pun intended. I'd never seen anything like it, Voltlyn, and it's thanks to you that we found a safe place to hole up. I was completely useless..." Dyama's face fell. "Like always."

Voltlyn's amused expression vanished upon seeing her mother's face, and she padded over to her, and placed a comforting paw on her shoulder.

"You're not useless." Voltlyn murmured, nuzzling Dyama's face comfortingly, cheering her up a little. "You've just never been in a fight before, it's a natural reaction."

Dyama sniffed, beating back tears and grinned, nuzzling Voltlyn's face back. "Oh you're so sweet, always thinking of others before yourself. If your f... father was here now, he would be so proud. He'd strut about like a rooster, bragging to everyone about you."

Voltlyn flushed slightly at the praise, and shook her head. "I... I'm not that special..."

"Don't be so hard on yourself!" Dyama cried, hugging Voltlyn in a sudden embrace. "You're the most specialest dragoness in all the realms, and the best daughter anyone could ever ask for!" Dyama broke the hug long enough to look into Voltlyn's face, and kiss her forehead. "And you're beautiful too. You're absolutely perfect."

"I'm not beautiful..." Voltlyn murmured, shaking her head as Dyama hugged her once more, the young topaz dragoness gripping her back tightly. Dyama smiled knowingly, but said nothing. A light cough cut through the silence, and startled, the pair separated, looking to the maker of the noise.

Cadence stared down at the mother and daughter, his one blue eye hard, expression deadly serious.

"I see you two are nearly finished." He stated, his voice dead of emotion. Dyama and Voltlyn nodded, rising to their paws.

"Yes master Cadence." Dyama murmured, bowing. "We are."

"Good." The flabby wind dragon grunted, nodding in satisfaction. "The Guardians require food to be brought up to them in the council hall. Go fetch some."

Dyama bowed again, and Cadence turned to leave, padding stiffly down the hall, and out of sight. The lightning dragoness turned to her daughter, her four horns sparkling as she moved her head.

"I'll be going, Voltlyn, you go and take a break. We were pretty much done anyway."

Voltlyn nodded and stretched, yawning. She shook her head, and then beamed up at Dyama.

"I'll see you later, mom." Voltlyn murmured, yawning as she slowly plodded down the hall to her room. "I'll be going to bed, I'm really... tired today..."

"Alright dear." Dyama replied, turning to make her way down to the kitchens. "Sweet dreams."

"Same to you, mom." Voltlyn replied as she disappeared down the hall, turning and vanishing from sight. Dyama stared after her for a moment, and then smiling, resumed her walk down the hall, patting the dirt off from her as she went.

* * *

"I see." Cynder whispered, sighing sadly. "I had hoped that there would be a way around this, but I knew deep down that it was inevitable."

"Indeed. But after what happened here, it is no surprise." Cyril muttered, glancing around the council hall. He shifted uncomfortably on one of the cushioned benches that surrounded the massive stone table in the center of the chamber. The patterned light from the stain glass windows spread across the floor in pools of colour, lighting up the dark, dreary room.

"I can't believe that we would be embroiled in yet another war." Inferna sighed, sitting down by the Guardian of Ice, having arrived only moments before. "It seems there is always another foe that must be vanquished in order to keep the peace. Why can't the ancestors give us an age of respite to recover?"

Spyro nodded, massaging the sides of his head with his paws. "And we, the heroes of the realms must take part in this battle. We are in the middle of trying to rebuild, and heal, yet they expect us to go along with it anyway, and leave everything behind to fight?"

"Of course we must." Terrador sighed, shaking his head. "We are the **Guardians** of the kingdom, and it is our home that was attacked. To not take part would be scorning out duty. I don't like it any more than any of you do, but what other option do we have? What kind of truce could be made after they betrayed us? It's no surprise that the five kings declared war on the Ferans."

"They didn't just betray us." Volteer murmured quietly from the back of the room. The bright yellow Guardian of Lightning sat in a corner of the council hall, shrouded in shadow. He kept as far away from the others as he could, head drooping wearily close to the ground. "They attacked us without provocation, justification or reason. They attacked us during the formation of a peace treaty **they** requested." Volteer's voice, which had been low and empty, choked with emotion. "They stabbed us in the back, after having us put down our guard. They burned and broke our home, and ended innocent lives, and for WHAT!" Volteer slammed his paws into the ground, eyes squeezed shut, forcing himself not to cry.

The others watched him sadly, expressions taught with a mixture of fury and anguish. Before any of them could reply, the door to the council chamber opened, and Aquina glided in. Upon seeing her, Volteer started to his paws, and rushed over to the navy blue water dragoness, his expression one of anxious hope.

"Is... Is Zindy...?" The yellow Guardian begged, coming to a stop beside her, unable to speak his thought aloud. Aquina looked to him, but did not meet his gaze. She worked her muzzle for a few moments, trying to formulate her thoughts. The hope drained out of Volteer's face, to be replaced with stark terror.

"Don't tell me..." He whimpered, shoulders sagging.

Aquina shook her head. "She'll live." Aquina murmured, finally meeting the Guardian's eyes. Relief flooded through Volteer, and he smiled for the first time in days.

"Oh thank the ancestors." He sighed, and then noticed Aquina's grim expression."Wh... What's the matter?" He asked, eyes flashing fear.

"When the panther stabbed her, the sword went right through her body." Aquina said, her voice flat, though her eyes betrayed her sorrow. "Along the way, it clipped her spine, cracking it."

"Oh no." Volteer whispered, his gaze falling to the floor in shock.

"I repaired the damage as best I could," Aquina continued, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "but magic and life crystals can only go so far. It will be a miracle if she ever exerts herself more than a light jog again."

"I... I understand." Volteer whispered, turning away. Aquina placed a paw on his shoulder sympathetically, and followed him over to the table. The staff closest to the yellow dragon murmured soft apologies and empathetic words. He merely nodded in response.

"Aquina, how are the injured faring?" Terrador grunted, casting Volteer a mournful glance.

"Well," Aquina responded quietly. "All but the most terribly wounded are already back on their paws. The rest are still healing in the infirmary, and are well on their way to recovery... All those we could save that is..." Aquina trailed off, looking down shamefaced.

Terrador nodded sadly. "How many?" He inquired gently.

"All told there were around two hundred injured." Aquina stated, straightening up. "More than half of which were students. A full third of the injured were in danger of losing their life." Aquina paused, gathering herself up. "Just under half of those were beyond saving. The fatalities number seventeen members of staff, and twelve students."

Terrador let out a long sigh, and nodded sadly, rubbing at his eyes with his paws.

"I see. Thank you Aquina. You did all you could."

"To think that so many lives were cut short." Cynder mumbled, shaking her head. "Lives that will never get to grow, or see another sunrise."

"And it is because of this that we must act." Terrador growled, pressing a paw down on the table and looking around. "We will, and must join in the coming conflict. For duty," Terrador glanced over at Spyro. "honour," His gaze shifted to Cynder, Cyril and Inferna. "and to avenge those lost." The Earth Guardian glanced over at Volteer, and then around at the others. "Spyro, Cynder, I trust you will be coming with me to join the gathering army?"

The two heroes nodded, expressions solemn.

"Aquina, as the current candidate for Guardian of Water, your presence would be appreciated." Terrador murmured, looking to the blue hided water dragoness.

The coral horned dragon nodded, her serpentine head bobbing. "I am no longer required here. My physicians can take care of the remaining injured."

"Excellent. We could use your medical knowledge. Cyril?"

The Guardian of ice nodded in answer, his icy blue scales sparkling in the rainbow of light. Terrador nodded his thanks.

"I suppose I should as well..." Volteer sighed, his gaze flicking over to Terrador. The green dragon cut him off.

"Actually, Volteer, we will need someone to stay here and take care of the students while we are away. I was hoping you would take up this burden. That is, if you don't mind?"

Volteer smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Terrador."

"Think nothing of it."

"LET ME COME WITH YOU!"

The Guardians started, and glanced over at the speaker. Savron strode imperiously into the chamber. His purple scales were dusty and mud streaked, his paws covered in grit. Savron came to a stop in front of the table, his four silver horns glittering regally in the torchlight. Cynder was the first to speak.

"NO! Absolutely not!" She hissed, standing up and glaring down at her son. Savron stared defiantly up at the black dragoness, refusing to back down.

"I want to go! This is my home too, isn't it? Let me fight!"

"I'm afraid not, Savron." Terrador rumbled, looking down sternly at the young amethyst dragon. "This isn't going to be a game. This is war we speak of, not the simple sparring you..."

"You've all been training me my whole life to defend myself!" Savron snarled in exasperation. "And I've done more than just sparring. I've faced down real opponents! I'm one of the best melee fighters here, and I've nearly mastered seven elements! Do you really think I'm not prepared?"

"Your training isn't our concern here, Savron!" Cynder growled, taking a step towards her son. "Our concern is your safety. You're used to fair fights, and war isn't fair. It's cruel and brutal, no place for a child."

"I'M NOT A CHILD!" Savron roared, his green eyes narrowing as he raised himself up as tall as he could. "I'm as old as you were when you faced down Malefor, and better trained! Don't call me a child!"

"Listen Sav." Spyro murmured, taking a stand beside Cynder. "Whether or not you feel you're ready, war isn't something you just want to jump into. Out there, on the battle field, everyone is trying to kill you. Not maim, not injure, **kill**. They will do what ever they can to kill you, to keep you from killing them first. You just aren't ready for that kind of thing."

"Miranda's **dead** because of me!" Savron hissed, the burt of anger smoldering down to embers. "Zindy is horribly injured, and dozens of my other friends are hurt. Do you expect me to stand by and let these... these monsters go unpunished?"

"They will not go unpunished, Savron!" Cyril spat, glaring at Savron incredulously. "This whole meeting, this whole war is about punishing the fiends who did this!"

"Then why won't you let me come!" Savron shouted, his voice filled with swelling frustration. "I'm ready! I'm capable! I want to..."

"ENOUGH, SAVRON!" Cynder roared, stepping up to the young purple drake, and grabbing him by the horn, forcing him to look up into her eyes. "You will not be coming with us. That is final."

Savron opened his muzzle to argue, but Cynder silenced him with a snort. "No arguing, n o negotiations. You will go back to your room, and forget about this nonsense. We will not hear of it."

Savron snorted, and turned angrily away, stomping out of the council hall, and vanishing from sight.

Cynder sighed, her anger leaving her, and she leaned against Spyro.

"Why must he be so difficult?" She mumbled wearily.

Spyro smiled. "Weren't we like that when we where his age? Always so passionate about our beliefs, and what is right and wrong?"

Cynder chuckled. "I suppose we were, weren't we?"

* * *

The wind blew restlessly between the spires of the Temple, the mushroom caps swaying to and fro with each gust. Stars speckled the dark sky, twinkling brightly as they danced among the clouds. The courtyard garden at the foot of the Temple was a flurry of activity. Armoured Guards took position in rank. Dragons, cheetahs, canines all clad in steel and bearing arms clanked into rows, expressions grim. Flame, Spyro and the Guardians stood stiffly, examining their soldiers with critical gazes. All bore plate armour with the sole exception of Volteer, who stood back, his expression one of concern.

It took close to half an hour for all the guardsmen to take position, mailed cheetahs and canines having mounted the plate armoured drakes. They shifted uncomfortably in small, leather saddles. Once the force was in order, they saluted the Guardians, dragon balancing precariously on three paws as they were weighed down by both armour and fellow soldiers. Terrador nodded to the other Guardians, and turned to the gates, prepared to move on.

"Dammit! I just don't get why they wouldn't let me come!" Savron exclaimed, pulling away from the edge of the balcony and irritably started stalking along its length. "It's not fair!"

"Calm down Sav." Igneous sighed, gripping the purple dragon by the shoulder, stopping his pacing. "There's nothing we can do about it now."

"I know how you feel, Sav." Tirren grumbled, shaking her head. "We all want to get a piece of the ones responsible for this, but we just have to let the Guardians take care of it."

Savron huffed bitterly, and turned to face Igneous, Tirren, Sleet and Typhous, all of whom stared at him with defeated expressions.

"It's... It's just not right!" The purple dragon growled, slamming a paw onto the granite rail of the balcony. "They train us for years on how to fight and control our elements, and then when it finally matters the most, they refuse to let us help!"

Far below the Temple gates ground open, and the Guardsmen marched out, stiff and orderly as they made to join with the gathering horde. Once they had cleared the gates, the dragons took flight, bearing the land bound soldiers high into the night sky. Volteer bid his fellow Guardians goodbye, and watched as they joined their soldiers in flight, his eyes weary and sorrowful.

Savron snorted derisively and turned away, stamping back into the Temple. Tirren and Igneous exchanged glances, sighing. Then the followed after him, Sleet and Typhous tailing after. Savron stormed through the halls, grumbling bitterly, hardly even paying attention to where he was going.

"Why don't they just get it!" Savron muttered darkly, turning a corner with a sharp jerk. "All I want to do is go and fight with them, just like they used to do back in the wars against the Dark Master! Do they have any idea how agonizing it is to just sit in safety, unable to do anything? Worrying about them?"

Savron spat and whirled around another corner, hissing under his breath. Savron was so preoccupied with his grumbling, that he didn't see the silver horned Albino moved out into the hall, bearing a stack of clean dishes bound for the kitchen. Igneous, Tirren, Sleet and Typhous turned the corner at a dash and paused, seeing the two rushing cluelessly towards each other.

"SAV! LOOK OUT!" Igneous shouted, grey eyes wide.

Savron turned his head, puzzled. "Look out for w..."

The purple dragon and Twar collided with a crash, the force of the impact sending the two sprawling. Twar shouted in shock and horror as the dishes flew up into the air, sailing up and nearly touching the ceiling before descending back down, whirling toward the pair.

"Bloody damn!" Typhous grunted, reaching out a paw and focusing his magic upon the dishes. The plates' descent slowed, and came to a stop inches above the prone forms of Savron and the Albino servant, resting upon cushions of air. Twar sighed in relief.

"Sorry about that, Twar. You okay?" Savron murmured, climbing to his paws and offering one to the floored white.

"It's alright." Twar sighed, accepting the offered paw. "I'm used to it." Savron helped Twar back up, and together they started stacking up the dishes, which Typhous had gracefully placed down on the ground.

"If you say so." Savron shrugged, pawing the dishes he had picked up over to Twar. The white dragon accepted them gratefully.

"Actually... uh... I was looking for you." Twar mumbled, glancing up anxiously at Savron as he turned to leave.

"Oh, really?" Savron grunted, turning back to Twar, raising an eye ridge in surprise.

Twar nodded emphatically. "Yeah, you see... Um, did the Guardians leave already?"

"Yes actually, just now." Igneous replied, stepping over to the pair.

"I see." Twar muttered, shifting his load into a more comfortable position. He shook his head. "Well, the reason I asked was because, during the night of the attack... I uh... heard something."

"You heard something?" Tirren questioned, curiously. Twar nodded to her.

"Yeah, from two of the invaders, or at least I think they were invaders." Twar paused for a moment to think about it. "One was cloaked in purple, with a big staff. The other was this black and red dragon. They were up on the wall, watching the fight... Anyway, the cloaked one said something about an ambush being set up to 'make sure the purple fiends die.' They said it would be set up in Dellberie, in the castle."

"A trap! Did you tell any of the Guardians about this?" Igneous demanded, his eyes wide with shock.

Twar shook his head, backing away. "I... Not yet. I had b... been hoping you could do it f... for me..."

"Why couldn't you just do it yourself!" Savron asked, his green eyes intense. Twar shuddered.

"I w... was afraid that they w... wouldn't listen to me." Twar stammered. "Nobody r... really ever pays attention to me, so I thought..."

"You wanted me to do it for you." Savron murmured, finishing Twar's statement for him. "This isn't good, they set up a back up in case their assassination didn't work, and dad's walking right into it! Mom and dad, along with all of the other wind dragons will be using their magic to hasten their troops towards their destination. We would never be able to catch up in time, and it would take too long to get a message to them..."

"So... what now, Sav?" Sleet asked, looking up at the large purple. Savron glanced down at the scrawny ice dragon, his expression serious.

"If we have any hope of catching up with them, it'll be by making a b-line straight for their destination. The army's first objective will be to take the First fort over the Feran border, which happens to be Dellberie. I bet they anticipated this, and purposefully set the trap up there."

"And how do you know this, Sav?" Tirren asked, her sapphire blue eyes narrowing.

Savron grinned. "I may have eavesdropped on the Guardians' war council before they left."

Tirren rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. "Oh Sav, you rascal."

Savron winked, and turned to Twar, slapping him fondly on the shoulder. "Thanks for the information buddy! You have no idea how important this is." The purple dragon smiled, flashing white fangs, and then turned and raced down the hall. Igneous gave the Albino a wide smile before following after Savron, Tirren, Typhous and Sleet all tailing him.

Twar watched them go, a smile breaking over his features. It faded away as they turned the next corner, and was replaced with a stricken grimace. After a moment of staring after them, he sighed and shook his head, muttering something inaudible. Twar hefted his load of dishes, and set off down the hall, his shoulders sagging, head drooping low, eyes distant.

"So Sav, where are we going!" Igneous called after Savron as they tore down the corridor.

"I'm going to see if Lyr will come with us!" Savron cried, glancing back. "He's a great fighter, we could really use his help for this mission!"

The group raced around a corner, and off towards the gym.

"Makes sense." Sleet panted, straining to keep up with his friends.

"Then we will need to get some equipment." Savron continued, stopping by the gym entrance and pushing the door open with a forepaw. "We can't just rush into battle unarmed."

Savron peered into the gym, and shook his head. "He's not in here." The purple muttered, snapping the door shut and pulling away, tapping a claw on the floor thoughtfully. "Where do you think he could be?" Savron murmured to no one in particular, his muzzle pursed.

Igneous shrugged. "Probably in his rooms, getting ready for bed. Classes are going to resume tomorrow after all."

"Alright." Savron said, nodding. "Let's go."

...

Lyrith's eyes had only just started to close as he lay on his bed of cushions, exhausted from his strenuous day, when a rapid knock on his door startled him.

"Who the **fuck** is it at this hour!" Lyrith spat, pushing himself off of his bed and storming over to the door, stepping over the books lying about his bed. He threw open the door, and glared out at the intruders. He was mildly surprise to see Savron, Igneous, Tirren, Typhous and Sleet standing in front of his door, shifting anxiously from paw to paw.

"What?" Lyrith sighed, sitting on his haunches and rubbing his red eyes with a paw.

"Well there's you see Twar said **trap** see something..." All five blurted, blending their words together into an incomprehensible mess.

Lyrith stared at them blankly as they stopped and glared at each other.

"Okay, look." Savron continued, clearing his throat. "Twar told us about something really, really important that he heard on the night of the attack. Apparently there'll be an ambush to kill off my dad set up in Dellberie. It's too late to tell mom or dad, because they've already left, so we're going after them to warn them about it. You in?"

Lyrith stared at the purple dragon incomprehensibly, his gaze startled and confused.

"Wait, so let me get this straight." Lyrith grumbled, raising a paw and rubbing at his eyes, yawning. "Twar told you, that an ambush is set up in some feran city, to kill off your parents, and without any investigation into the matter, you're going to rush off and warn them about it?"

"Pretty much." Savron replied, his enthusiasm starting to waver upon seeing Lyrith's exasperated expression.

"Do you have any idea how **dumb** your plan sounds?" Lyrith demanded, lowering his paw to glare around at his friends. "Seriously Tirren, I thought you would be all over this!"

"Well..." Tirren murmured, caught off guard.

Lyrith snorted. "What part of that plan ever remotely sounded logical? The part where you're going to warn the army about a trap you heard about from an **Albino** servant? Or the part were you charge headfirst into the battle ground against instructions to deliver it?"

"Does it matter?" Savron growled, stomping over and shoving his face closer to Lyrith's. "There's a trap and they have to know about it! If I go, then I will definitely be able to get in to see mom and dad. If a messenger is sent, there's no chance of that before the battle starts. They have to be prepared!"

Lyrith sneered, his tired eyes narrowing. "Oh, and then what? Once you get there, what will you tell them? You don't know anything about the trap, other than it might be there. You have no idea where exactly it will be sprung, or what will happen, you don't even know if it's real. How could this possibly help...?"

"If there's even a remote chance its real, then I'm going." Savron snarled, shaking his head firmly. "As long as they're warned, then..."

"This isn't entirely about the trap though, is it?" Lyrith spat, his patience wearing thin. "I think you want to go and pay the Ferans back yourself. This is just an excuse to break the rules and go."

Savron reached forward and angrily grabbed Lyrith by the shoulder, pulling him closer to him.

"You're right," Savron hissed, his green eyes dangerous. "I do want to pay them back, but I also want to be there for mom and dad. I don't care if this isn't the best option, or the smartest. Sometimes the best option just doesn't cut it." The purple dragon shoved Lyrith back into his room, letting his shoulder go. Lyrith stumbled back, startled by the ferocious force Savron put behind the push.

Savron glowered over at the white dragon as he steadied himself. "I don't know if you understand this, Lyrith, but this is my **home**. The ones those monsters hurt, they were my **friends,** my **family**! I wont let them get away with that." Savron turned away from Lyrith, and looked back at the others. "Let's go, this was a waste of our time."

Igneous cast Lyrith an apologetic glance as they turned to leave, shaking his head. Lyrith shook his head.

"There's a reason you're parents didn't bring you along, Sav! You don't know what you're getting into!"

Savron stopped, and turned his head to look back at Lyrith his eyes hard. "And you do?" He asked flatly.

Lyrith snorted once more, and slammed the door to his room shut, rattling the latch into place. Savron shook his head, and resumed walking, moving towards the storage room to collect their supplies.

The moons were making their decent towards the horizon in the cool, night sky. Clouds, blown by strong gusts of wind swirled high above, the scent of rain drafting through the air. Ash from the burnt gardens below billowed up in clouds as the wind caught it, and carried it up into the air.

Savron looked over the edge of the landing platform as his friends gathered, preparing for their journey. Each wore a suit of chain-mail armour, which fit snuggly to their frames. Helmets were firmly strapped to their heads, and bracers to their legs. Igneous, being the largest of the group, bore the largest of their packs, burdened down with rations and crystals. Similar packs were strapped to Tirren, Typhous and Savron, though they were all considerably smaller in size. Sleet carried no pack of his own, not trusting himself to be able to keep up with his friends when burdened down with anything more than his armour.

"So, is everyone ready?" Savron grunted, looking up from the edge of the landing pad and over to the small cluster of dragons behind him.

"Yes Sav, we were just waiting on you." Tirren sighed, rolling her eyes. "You were just sitting there, staring into the dark for at least ten minutes."

"Oh, right." Savron mumbled sheepishly, flushing a little. "I was just checking to see if the guards were changing."

"Uh huh." Tirren muttered, shaking her head. "Well, shall we go?"

"Wait!" A voice called from behind, breathless.

The gang of dragons froze and turned sharply, bodies tense. They relaxed as Danrah and Vash rushed up to them, the princess skidding to a stop on the landing platform.

"Don't leave without us!" The black shadow dragoness panted, her nine horned head drooping from her sprint.

Savron, Igneous and Tirren looked at each other, eye ridges raised.

"Uh... do you..."

"We know where you're going." Danrah grunted, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "And we're coming too, and nothing you say will dissuade me."

"But, how?" Savron asked, incredulously. "We never told anyone, how could you know?"

"Don't get me wrong." Danrah sighed, looking the purple dragon in the eye. "We've only met you recently, but everyone knows what you're like, Savron. It's obvious you'd head off to join up with the army, using whatever contrived excuse to justify it. I want to get back at them too for what they did, and not just because they nearly killed me and hurt many of my friends. This betrayal will affect more than just the treaty between the Ferans and the Realms. It will affect the relationship between the Ferans and my people too, and as a member of the Shadow dragon throne, and current representative at the Temple, I have to investigate."

Danrah finished her speech breathing hard, head held high. She looked around imperiously, demanding anyone to challenge her.

Savron shrugged. "Alright."

Danrah blinked in surprise. "Y... You're not even going to try and tell me not to come?"

"Why should I, you're clearly fixed on going, and it's not like I really have the right to tell you not to go, when I shouldn't be going myself." Savron chuckled, shaking his head. "Welcome aboard. Any objections in the peanut gallery?"

The others rolled their eyes, but said nothing.

"Great!" Savron looked over at Vash, and the dream dragon shrugged, the spiny tendrils shrouding his head rustling.

"I'm only coming because I couldn't convince Danrah that this was stupid."

"Alright." Savron grunted. "You guys got gear? Because we don't have much time left."

"Yep!" Danrah chirped, patting the satchel that rested on her side. "Got some armour and crystals here. Vash has the rations."

"Excellent! We can leave right away then!" Savron grinned, turning to the edge of the platform, facing south east. "This'll be your last chance to back down guys! It's going to be a long journey, and we'll no doubt all get in trouble for it at the end."

The group looked at each other and then back at Savron who waited for their response.

Sleet swallowed hard, and then stepped forward. "I... I don't care. I'm coming. Nobody hurts Zindy and g... get's away with it!"

Everyone looked to Sleet, surprised at his conviction, and then followed him, coming to stand beside Savron at the edge of the landing pad. Savron grinned over to them, and nodded appreciatively.

"Thanks guys."

"Let's get going, we have a deadline to meet." Tirren said, nodding over to Savron, a small smile creasing her muzzle.

"Yep." The purple dragon grinned, spreading his wings. "Oh, and Danrah, we'll explain our mission to you on the way, got it?"

Danrah nodded, smirking. Together, they leaped off the platform, and soared up into the night sky.

Lyrith snorted as the group took off, and turned away from the window, shaking his head.

"Idiots! They have no idea what they're getting themselves into! There's a big difference between killing mindless monsters and rational beings!" The colourless dragon huffed, exasperated. Lyrith stalked down the halls irritably, to frustrated from the conversation earlier that night to go get some sleep. Over and over again he turned his conversation with Savron over in his head, think of what he could have said. However, he knew that it wouldn't have made a difference, Savron had been set to go from the start, and nothing would have changed his mind.

Lyrith snorted derisively, and shook his head once more. "Why did they have to be so stupid! They're letting their emotions rule them! They don't understand what's at stake here!"

His chest hurt as he stamped down the hall, so filled with conflicting emotions that he felt ready to burst.

"_I don't know if you understand this, Lyrith, but this is my **home**. The ones those monsters hurt, they were my **friends**, my **family**! I wont let them get away with that."_

Lyrith shook the memory out of his head, only for it to return seconds later, echoing around his mind like thunder. Lyrith stopped, and sighed, putting a paw to his forehead.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Lyrith murmured, turning around and heading back the way he had come. He padded down the hall to his room, only to stop in surprise upon seeing Voltlyn sitting by his door, looking down the halls anxiously. She froze upon seeing Lyrith, and then relaxed.

"What are you doing here?" Lyrith demanded, his eyes flat and emotionless. Voltlyn gulped.

"Y... You're leaving, aren't you?" She whispered, her head drooping. "You're leaving to go after Savron, right?"

Lyrith blinked stupidly. "You know about them?"

Voltlyn nodded. "Yeah, I heard Savron ranting about their fight with you when they were heading down the halls for supplies, they had to pass by my room to get to where they're going."

Lyrith looked at her, his head cocked. "Yes, I am going."

Voltlyn took a deep breath, and then nodded. "Then I'm coming with you."

Lyrith was silent for a while, and then sighed. "Nothing I say will dissuade you, will it?"

Voltlyn shook her head.

"Fine." Lyrith sighed, stepping passed her into his room. Grab your stuff, leave a note or whatever. I'll be at the west, fourth floor landing pad, meet me there. Bring your own armour and food, and make it quick!"

Voltlyn smiled and bobbed her head. She turned and silently raced down the hall, vanishing from sight. Lyrith shook his head, and closed the door to his chamber.

...

Lyrith shifted in the cold wind as he stepped out onto the landing pad, dropping his pack to the ground as he looked around. The platform was empty, with no sign of the topaz dragoness in sight. Lyrith sighed in agitation, and grumbled under his breath.

"I'm leaving if she doesn't get here in..."

"Sorry! I'm here!" Voltlyn cried, racing out onto the landing pad, and coming to a stop beside Lyrith, panting from her mad sprint through the Temple halls. Lyrith looked over to her, his expression blank.

"Are you ready?" He asked, his voice flat. "I'm leaving immediately, we have to catch up with them before we lose their trail."

"Yeah." Voltlyn nodded, looking up at him, her ocean blue eyes determined. "I just had to write mom a letter so she wouldn't worry. I'm ready now."

Lyrith nodded and looked her over, examining the set of light weight chain armour she wore. It was similar to the set he carried, only a tighter fit. She carried a big sack over her side, stuffed with numerous items all crammed together with everything Voltlyn thought she might need. A similar pack rested across Lyrith's flank.

The white dragon nodded and turned back to the edge of the landing platform, and stepped up to the edge. He spread his wings and took off, not looking back.

Voltlyn shot up into the air after him, tailing close behind the Albino as they soared off over the Temple walls, to the south east, heading towards the brightening horizon.

* * *

Grasbronda was eerily silent as the moon made its way down to the horizon, its pale light streaming through the jungle canopy. Ferans and Panthers scurried about in the jungle floor slums, while high up in the tree city, lavishly dressed nobles strode through the branching walkways, moving from massive tree, to massive tree. In the very heart of the city, the great palace tree reached up into the sky, towering high above the canopy, leafy limbs vainly grasping at the descending moon. Court was in session.

The throne room was packed with council members, both Feran and panther. All sat on carved wooden benches surrounding the small bowl in the middle of the room. Kaiser sat upon his throne, facing Jaxar who knelt before him. At Kaiser's side, Ramolous sat, his expression blank and composed. All was sient as the sorcerer related his message, his twisted face distressed.

"... And so the treacherous Guardians butchered Ambassador Gorgulline, burning him and his caravan to the ground, and destroying the treaty in the process. I had taken a battalion of volunteer soldiers with me to intercept Gorgulline, in order to help safeguard him back to Grasbronda. We arrived just as they started burning the caravan. We attempted to intervene, but we were too late. We took the fight to the Temple, in order to extract answers and vengeance for their betrayal, but we were overwhelmed, and my men were butchered. We managed to do a great deal of damage to the Dragon Temple, but our losses were far more extreme then theirs. I made my escape when I realized that we were losing, but I could not reach any of the soldiers in time to sound the retreat. I am the only survivor."

Jaxar fell silent, his sorrowful voice echoing around the chamber. The nobles stared at one another, aghast.

"Horrible, simply horrible." Ramolous whispered, shaking his head. "I knew the purple dragons were monsters, but who would have thought that the Guardians would have fallen so far themselves?"

"I am curious," Kaiser murmured, leaning forward, his resonant voice drawing everyone's attention. "what, at the time, drove you to believe that Gorgulline and his caravan would require your aid? Did you know ahead of time that we would be betrayed?"

Ramolous looked over at his father, surprised and puzzled at the king's calm demeanor.

"I must admit, your majesty," Jaxar sighed, looking up at the feran king, his expression complacent. "that I was driven by a gut feeling."

"Not a premonition?" The maned jungle dragon king asked, his expression contemptuous.

Jaxar shook his head, smiling wanly. "No, your majesty. Clairvoyance has never been my specialty." Jaxar's smile faded, and he coughed uneasily. "No, I felt that our ambassador might need some extra protection in case of ape bandits or grublin marauders. I had never thought that the Guardians would so treacherously attack. We weren't prepared for such an outcome."

Kaiser grunted, and shook his head. "You are aware, no doubt, that unauthorized deployment of soldiers, volunteer or otherwise, is strictly forbidden for an advisor such as yourself?"

"Father, I gave him permission." Ramolous coughed. Kaiser looked over at his son, his expression unchanging.

"Did you now?"

"Yes, I trust Jaxar's instincts. He has served me, **us**, all well in the past.

"I see." Kaiser muttered, looking back and forth between the two.

"What does it matter if Jaxar disobeyed one small rule!" A brown maned Feran shouted, shooting a distressed look over to Kaiser. "The Dragon Realms have attacked and killed our envoy of peace! They're probably plotting to take over our kingdom! This is a disaster!"

The nobles sitting in court erupted into panicked yammering, shouting and wailing over the news. Kaiser let out a low, agitated sigh, and slowly stood up from his throne. Ramolous watched his father, concerned.

"Father, where are you going?"

"For a walk." The feran king grumbled, turning and padding out of the chamber. The feran prince rose to his paws and followed after Kaiser.

"But what of the meeting?" The prince asked, his fur cape flopping as he rushed to catch up.

Kaiser snorted. "They're all too busy blubbering about the lost treaty to miss me."

Ramolous stared at his father silently as they strode through the halls, heading towards the king's chambers.

"Father," Ramolous said after a short pause. "what is to be done about the Guardians? Surely we cannot allow this treachery to go unpuni..."

"We will do **nothing**!" Kaiser growled, coming to a stop by the door of his room. The massive darkwood door towered over the pair, a mural of carvings depicting the origins of the Feran kingdom displayed on its surface.

"Nothing? But..." Ramolous began, shocked.

"But nothing!" Kaiser snarled, whirling to face the feran prince. "Do not think your words have fooled me, Ramolous! I do not believe for one second anything Jaxar has said about what transpired, if it even happened at all!"

"But..."

"DO NOT THINK ME A FOOL!" Kaiser roared, his eyes flashing with rage, his round body quivering with anger. "I know full well that the Guardians would never commit such an atrocity. And if there was a battle, they were not the ones who orchestrated it, Ramolous!"

Ramolous took a step back, the gold beads in his mane tinkling.

"W... What do you mean?"

Kaiser snorted, and reached over, grabbing his fully grown son by the ear.

"I am not an idiot, Ramolous." Kaiser hissed, pulling Ramolous's head head close to his muzzle. "I know well your hatred of Spyro and his kind. But if this travesty has occurred, then it is not by there paws. And if their army does by chance arrive on my doorstep, it will not be my kingdom I paw over to them."

Ramolous's eyes widened, and Kaiser released his son, huffing.

"You... you believe I did this..." Ramolous murmured, his expression shocked.

Kaiser glowered. "I **know** it. I know it in my bones that you're responsible for this hell raising, Ramolous." Kaiser snorted and turned into his room, and moved to shut the door. "It breaks my heart, son,but if it comes to it, I must put my kingdom before my family."

Ramolous sneered, and caught he door with his paw. With a powerful shove, Ramolous tore open the door, and grabbed Kaiser by the throat with a paw. The inside of Kaiser's room was lavishly decorated with gold and fine furnishings, rich but far from gaudy. Kaiser's eyes widened, and he reached up to grab the paw at his throat, knocking over a vase in the process. The king attempted to extract himself from his son's grip, and call for help, drawing in a breath for a shout. Ramolous squeezed tighter, cutting Kaiser off completely, and kicked the door shut behind him.

Now panicking, Kaiser let out a silent scream, blasting Ramolous with a wave of crimson energy. Ramolous's sneer widened as it passed over him harmlessly.

"A pity, I had hoped you would see reason, father. I had hoped you would realize how dangerous these purples are, and see what a folly making a treaty with them was. Now you leave me with no choice but to ensure you don't ruin my plans."

"No... don't... do... this..." Kaiser choked, managing to squeeze in a breath as he clutched Ramolous's paw.

Ramolous's expression softened somewhat. "Worry not, father, I have no intention of killing you. Someone will have to rule this kingdom once my quest is complete." Red energy seeped out of Ramolous's body, and struck out at Kaiser. The king gasped as the fear energy tore into him. His vision swam as Ramolous dropped him onto the ground, and took a step back. Kaiser started to rise to his paws, when a great force stopped him.

Kaiser turned his head, looking for the source of the pressure, and stopped as his eyes fell upon his mate. The feran queen stood straight and proud, her crimson scales dark against the white of her cloak. Her golden man as in disarray, and blood seeped out of countless claw marks that lined her body, staining her cloak. A long slash was carved across her neck, and both her once green eyes had been plucked out of their sockets.

"Lan... Lanirius." Kaiser whimpered, his eyes wide with horror. The female feran's smile twisted gruesomely as she forced her mate to the ground with a paw.

"Why?" She whispered, her expression strained and full of anguish. "Why didn't you stay home? Why didn't you protect me? Why did you let this happen?"

Kaiser shook as more shades started to appear. His elderly father, his twin sisters, a young serving drake he had taken under his wing, all maimed nearly beyond recognition. They wailed and wept as they surrounded the Feran king, who cowered on the stone floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why! Why! WHY?" Their voices rang out in unison, battering at Kaiser like verbal hammers as they pleaded with him, reaching out with ghostly paws. More and more shades gathered, and their shapes began to blur. Kaiser watched horrified as his loved ones shifted and changed, morphing into beings so horrific and monstrous, that they shattered Kaiser's sanity.

The feran king screamed in terror as they descended on him, talons, fangs and spiked tentacles lashing him, all the while they continued to beg, howling and sobbing.

Ramolous stood above his father, expression sorrowful as Kaiser wailed, clawing at himself as the fear fury tore his mind apart, the nightmares growing worse and worse as it continued. Finally, once the prince felt his father could endure no more, he released his fury. Kaiser crumpled, whimpering on the floor, broken and bloody, occasionally twitching as remnants of the nightmare flashed through his mind.

Ramolous sighed. "I wish it hadn't come to this, father, but it must be done, for the sake of our kingdom, for the sake of dragonkind."

Ramolous turned and strode out of the room, and locked the door shut behind him. Two guards ran up to the door, panting.

"Your highness!" The female panther panted, looking up at the prince. "We heard screaming... What is the problem?"

"Father is greatly distressed at the news we have been betrayed." Ramolous sighed solemnly. "He needs some time alone to recuperate."

The two guards nodded and took up position by the door. Ramolous padded slowly down the twisting hallway, away from his father's chambers, and towards his own. He reached the door to his room, and waved the panther guards away with a paw. The prince slipped inside and shut the door with a snap. Ramolous looked around his extravagant room, his eyes wandering over the plush mattresses and hardwood desks and cabinets that were placed around his room. Ramolous stepped into his room, passed his hoard of cushions and shut the curtains to his windows. The prince turned, and took two more steps into his room, and then sighed, closing his eyes.

"Jaxar, I swear, if you sneak up behind me again, I will feed you to the jungle spiders!" Ramolous waited, his voice echoing around the empty, silent room. After a minute of silence, Ramolous sighed, and opened his eyes. Jaxar stood directly in front of him, his twisted face creased in an expression of amusement.

"I would never think of sneaking up behind you, my lord."

Ramolous shouted in shock, and took several steps back, before regaining his composure.

"How do you do that?" Ramolous demanded, his heart still pounding.

"Do what?" Jaxar laughed, sitting down on a mattress laid up against a wall. Ramolous took a seat opposite the sorcerer, glaring.

"I mean, how did you manage to get into my room, while it's locked, just as I say that, without me noticing!"

"Oh! That!" Jaxar grinned. "I just keep in the habit of being where you need me the most."

"So you hid in my room."

"Oh my no! How unseemly a suggestion!"

Ramolous sighed, shaking his head. "Getting a straight answer from you is like pulling teeth with a pair of pliers. Painful and relatively unproductive." The prince lowered himself onto a mattress, groaning.

"I'm sorry to hear that, my lord." Jaxar murmured, his head lowered.

"No you're not."

The two were silent for a moment, and then Ramolous snorted.

"Is everything in place?"

"Yes, everything is in motion now." Jaxar answered, nodding his shrouded head in affirmation.

"What of the young purple dragon? Have you made preparations for him?"

"Yes, my 'agent' in the Temple will ensure he makes his way to Dellberie."

"Ah, excellent." Ramolous grunted, nodding in satisfaction. "Jaxar, your next assignment then is to prepare the ambush in Dellberie. I don't want the purple dragons, or their friends to leave unscathed. Break them, burn them, and destroy them."

"It will be my pleasure, my lord." Jaxar grinned, bowing.

"No doubt it will be." Ramolous muttered. "You and that **pet** of yours."

"Oh yes, Travix will quite enjoy himself."

"As long as he gets the job done." Ramolous snorted.

The sorcerer stood up, and moved over to Ramolous's brandy rack. Jaxar uncorked a bottle, and poured the drink into a cup for himself, and a bowl for Ramolous. Ramolous took the bowl Jaxar offered him, and drained it in one gulp. Jaxar took his seat once more, and sipped from his cup.

"My lord, what do you intend to do, once the purple dragons have been slain?" Jaxar murmured, lounging back on the mattress, eying the prince skeptically. "We have started a war, after all. Dealing with it won't be as simple as eliminating the purple dragons."

"I am aware of the consequences of my actions, Jaxar, you do not have to lecture me." Ramolous sighed, shaking his head. "Though you do bring up a fair point, a war will not be easily stopped, and our kingdom is small, and not capable of waging war against the Dragon Realms."

"Then what will you do, my lord?" Jaxar queried, taking another sip from his cup.

"When the purple dragons, and the black bitch are dead, I will paw myself over to the Realms, and declare myself the sole perpetrator of the attack on the Temple, sparing my people any further suffering." Ramolous declared, placing his bowl down upon the floor by his mattress.

Jaxar blinked. "A noble, selfless act, my lord."

"Nothing less than what I can do, in order to amend myself for bringing war down upon my people."

Jaxar nodded solemnly. "I understand, my lord." The sorcerer rose to his feet, and brushed his purple robes off, reclaiming his staff from where it leaned in a corner. "I shall make preparations for my departure. I will ensure that the mission goes as planned." Jaxar bowed and then turned out of the room, staff clunking as he glided out the door. Ramolous watched him go, his red eyes distant.

The feran rose to his paws and stretched, the ivy tattoos twining up his forelegs writhing as his muscles flexed. He shook out his mane, the gold beads tinkling merrily, and then stepped over to the mirror of his room. He examined his reflexion idly, noticing the bags under his eyes and snorting derisively. He turned away once more, and started pacing about his room restlessly. Finally, after several moments of padding to and fro, he grunted and stamped over to a small cubboard by his desk. He opened it, and rummaged around, pulling out a key. He turned and paced back over to the other side of the room, and shifted through the pillows of his bed, moving them aside.

Beneath the horde of cushions, a small key hole was set in the floor boards, a pair of hinges protruding out of the floor along side it. Ramolous fitted the key into the slot, and twisted it once, twice. Then, he pushed it in farther, and pulled it out. The lock clicked, and the safe swung open. Ramolous stared inside, his red eyes distant as he gazed at the crystal within. It was a pale crystal lay within, such a radiant white that even newly fallen snow would appear flithy beside it. Despite it's luminesk appearance however, the area around it was dark, almost as if it was absorbing the light around it. Ramolous reached in side, and lifted the crystal, cradling it in his paws.

"Soon. Very soon." He whispered. It thrummed in his paws, sending tingles up his arms and into his shoulders. He shuddered as he felt a pressure suddenly pull at his chest, as if something was trying to escape from him. Ramolous hastily put the crystal back in the safe, and locked it tight.

The feran prince scattered pillows over the safe once more, and lay down on his bed, yawning. He stretched out over the cushions, and rolled over, to look out the window from where he sat.

"It's only a matter of time now." Ramolous whispered as his eyes slowly slid shut. "Whether by my paws, or by another's, the purple dragons, and those tied to them will die, and the Legacy... Malefor's Legacy, will end once and for all."

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang (Savron, Tirren, Igneous, Lyrith, Voltlyn, Sleet, Typhous, Zindy, Danrah, Vash.)

Malicina, The Mother.

The Temple staff (Inferna, Dyama, Aquina, Twar, Cadence.)

Miranda. Thunder.

Jaxar, Ramolous, Travix. Kaiser. Gorgulline.

Welp, it's finally done. Sorry it took so long everybody, but I was delayed with a mountain of essays. My laziness and Minecraft addiction didn't help either though. XD You shouldn't have to worry too much about following updates though, because I've actually decided to pretype everything up, rough drafts and all. That means I'll only have to edit my next chapters, I won't have to type everything up again from now on! :D That doesn't mean they'll be coming out right away though, I still have to work on other chapters, so I'll pace it accordingly.

Alright, my first of many comments: Can you guess who the character named Talon belongs to? I'll give you a hint, the person is named after the character. =P

Sleet: *Cough* Talon The Dragon *Cough*

I won't make a habit of adding other people's characters to my story, but Talon was one I felt I could fit, since his backstory seems to be one that won't conflict with my time line. :P Even if I do add a character however, it doesn't mean he'll/she'll have too much of a major roll.

Next on my list: I've suddenly found myself in the mood for experimentation with my writing, and have decided to set up a poll to decide what I'll work on. I'll have a couple choices, ranging from spinoffs of Dark Legacy, to completely different archive of fandom (Pokemon in particular. I have a really cool idea for a pokemon fic, and I'm actually rather eager to do that one, though don't let that alter your choice. :P) to a completely original short sci-fi fic. Some of these will be written in different styles than I'm used to, from journal style stories, to first person ones. I'll put the poll up shortly after posting this chapter, and it'll stay up for two or three chapters, to give everyone ample time to vote. Now, I won't start up on these right away, they'll be more of a side project I'll work on while writing FC, EH and Chains of Glass. So don't fret about Dark Legacy being delayed again.

Next comes... uh... Crap, I forgot. -_-' Nevermind.

Thanks for reading. ^_^

Oh wait! Now I remember! This chapter was named after a name my beta Goldengriffiness gave me for chapter 21. She was a little late in the delivery, because I had already posted the chapter, and it was too late to go back and fix it. The name worked with this chapter however, so I put it here. Thanks Goldie! :D


	23. Desperation

Chapter 23. Desperation

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder the Temple, or any other character, or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. In the mean time, I'll... uh... um... frick. I'm out of jokes... oh well, I'll just figure some out for next time. Multiple of my own characters are featured in this chapter, however, their names are listed at the bottom._

The sun peeked over the horizon as a group of dragons flew over the mushroom forest, heading south east. The wind was blustery, but blew with the group, letting them ride it with ease. Before them the sky was clear of clouds and a bright baby blue, behind them however a thin dark line of clouds stretching across the sky, just visible in the distance.

Savron led his friends as they flew through the crisp dawn air, only occasionally having to beat his wings as the wind carried him along. He wore a suit of chain mail over his purple scales, clasped in place with leather thongs. A large sack was strapped to his back, nearly bursting at the seams with its contents. Vash, Tirren and Igneous bore similar sacks, all being the strongest of the group, and all wearing chainmail like Savron's. Danrah and Sleet flew at the rear, the shadow dragoness carrying a small sack, while Sleet bore nothing but his mail armour.

They flew in a rough V shaped formation, keeping the rising sun to their general left as they soared through the sky. Far below them, the massive caps of the mushroom forest stretched on into the distance, a never ending jungle of swampy fungus that carpeted the earth.

Sleet groaned as he kept pace with the group, his wings straining as he flew. Even unburdened he had difficulty keeping up, his weak body weighed down by the armour he wore.

"Sav?" Sleet moaned, his body tense as he forged on. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. My wings are killing me."

Savron grunted, and turned his head to look back at Sleet, the silver frill that topped his head flashing in the dawn light.

"Just a little more buddy, I see a good resting spot up ahead."

Sleet grumbled, his breath coming out in short gasps as he flew. Danrah looked over at him, and smiled.

"Don't worry, you'll make it."

Sleet didn't answer, focused entirely upon keeping aloft. Savron returned his focus to the sky ahead and used a little of his wind magic to help the small ice dragon keep up. Tirren beat her wings once hard and moved up beside Savron, eyeing him curiously, her sapphire eyes gleaming hopefully.

"You said there's a place to rest soon? Where? I don't see it." The emerald dragoness quickly scanned the swamp below, checking again for where they would be resting. Savron smirked, seeing her look, and shook his head.

"It's not down there, Rin, look forward. If you squint you can see it."

Tirren frowned, and squinted, turning her eyes forward. Her frowned deepened.

"I don't... Oh my." Tirren gasped, blinking in shock.

"What is it?" Igneous asked, catching up with the two, and looking at Tirren puzzled. Tirren pointed with a claw.

"See that blot in the sky? I thought it was a bird or something, but it's not."

Igneous turned his own eyes to where Tirren pointed, and his grey eyes widened his surprise.

A small island hovered high above the mushroom canopy. It hung completely unsupported in the air, vines draping from its sides, nearly touching the tops of the mushroom caps below. A massive tree grew out of the middle of the island, its leaves stretching above the island, shading from the sun, its roots sticking out of the bottom of the island.

"Woah." Igneous said, his jaw almost unhinged in awe. Savron's grin widened, and he picked up speed, heading straight for the island. The other's gave each other eager looks, and followed after bodies aching from their long flight.

They landed on the island less than half a dozen minutes later, sighing in relief as they folded their tired wings.

"Oh sweet ancestors." Typhous murmured as he sank to his haunches, panting. "I've never been so grateful to see a flying rock."

"You've seen them before?" Danrah chuckled, moving up to the edge and looking over at the swamp below.

Typhous snorted. "No, but I've heard about them."

"How is it possible?" Igneous murmured, moving up the the giant trunk of the tree, and circling it curiously. "How can a rock just... float like this?"

"It's not as uncommon as you might think." Sleet sighed, stretching out on the grassy dirt ground beneath the tree. "Have you ever heard of the Floating Plains?"

"Yeah, it's a whole bunch of islands that are just hovering above the ocean, isn't that right?" Tirren answered, looking over to Sleet. The ice dragon nodded.

"Yep. Well after Spyro stopped the Destroyer, he literally pulled the world back together. Only not all of the pieces went back to their original places, in fact most didn't. That meant that a lot of the land masses couldn't fit back into the earth, as gaps were either too big or too small to accommodate them. Because of this new mountain ranges and canyons were formed. But, as you can imagine, it's really hard to pull the world back together, so not all the pieces were actually pulled back. They were left just floating in the air, unable to return to the world, or leave the atmosphere."

Sleet paused for breath, and looked around. Everyone was staring at him blankly, and he flushed. "Well um... A lot of it is speculation, but Spyro explained a bit of it to me when I asked him about it."

"Uh huh." Savron murmured, his expression amused.

"But** how**?" Tirren asked, shaking her head. "You didn't tell us how it's doing this."

"Well..." Sleet coughed, his blush fading. "it's likely that whatever magic the Destroyer used was similar to reversing gravity, which is why the land masses flew up into the air in the first place. So theoretically, these pieces of earth are still affected by the magic. That's the only explanation I can give."

"And what about the Floating Plains?" Igneous inquired. "They were like that before the Destroyer. How are they floating?"

Sleet shrugged. "I'm not really all that sure. The tribe people there seem to think one of their gods are responsible. They don't have any written records, so nobody really knows for sure."

"Whatever." Savron grunted, settling down on the floor comfortably. "Does it really matter how or why? It's happened, it's here, so we'll enjoy it, no matter if it can be explained or not."

"I suppose you're right." Igneous sighed, laying down and shifting on the soft grass. The group lay in silence for a while, resting their weary bodies while they were able, and enjoying the wonderful view the floating rock gave them. The only sound on the floating rock was the blowing wind, and the creaking of the tree branches.

"What's that?" Vash grunted, standing up suddenly, shattering the silence.

Danrah sat up and rubbed her eyes, woken from her nap. "Wha?" She mumbled, looking over at her adoptive brother.

Vash snorted and gestured. "**That**! What's that?"

The others, now roused from their rest, and followed the dream dragon's pointing talon to a cluster of distant specks on the blue sky.

"Are those birds?" Savron murmured, squinting. Tirren shook her head.

"No... They're moving too fast, and their flight pattern is all off..."

They stared as the dots came closer, their shapes coming into focus.

"They're definitely not birds." Igneous murmured as he examined the creatures. "They look more like some kind of snake..."

"Wait, did you say snake?" Sleet asked, looking over at the shapes. His eyes widened in fear as the creatures swerved and shot towards them.

"Wyverns!" Savron bellowed, realization clicking into place seconds after Sleet.

The group of dragons hesitated only a moment before launching themselves off of the floating rock, and taking off in the air, scattering. The black and red serpents screeched and broke formation, two diving after each dragon. Their movements were fluid, almost as if they swam through the air. Their 'wings' were sail like frills that stretched between their forelegs and tail tip. Huge, red bug-like eyes stood out in their bulbous heads as they tore after their prey, howling in bloodlust.

"Shit!" Savron roared as he swerved upward, narrowly avoiding being clawed by the wyvern. "What're these things doing here!"

"Is it really time to be asking those sorts of questions!" Tirren shouted back, flapping to the side as a wyvern tried to dive on her from the top.

Savron snorted and blasted a bolt of electricity at one of the two wyverns swooping at him. It evaded fluidly. The second creature came up from below and clawed at Savron's flank. It's claws skittered across his armour, not penetrating it, but getting a hiss of pain from the purple regardless. The purple twirled around and slapped at the creature with his tail. The blow sent it reeling off balance for a moment before it returned to its flight, hissing and spitting.

Igneous grunted as a wyvern clawed at his armoured chest, and retaliated with a blast of intense flame. The fire caught it, and it howled as it came alight. The wyvern fell from the sky, shrieking, its greasy black and red hid smoldering as it plummeted. The second of the two wyverns clawed at Igneous's visor, and the red reared back, beating his wings to gain some distance.

Tirren and Typhous beat back the four wyverns assaulting them, growling and snarling as they came at the two drakes from all sides. Tirren snarled as she swiped at a wyvern, her paw glowing green as she empowered her body with earth magic. The wyvern dodged to the side, and shot upwards, slashing at Tirren's side. The emerald dragoness swooped away from the blow, and struck out with her tail, smacking the wyvern away. Typhous bore better than Tirren, more suited for arial combat. The wind dragon tore through the sky, easily avoiding the wyverns' attacks and striking back swiftly, forcing the monsters to keep their distance.

Savron glanced over from slashing a wyvern with his tail blade over to where Danrah and Vash fought. They moved in unison, Vash closing in with the monsters to hold them at bay, while Danrah bombarded them from behind with blasts of shadow fire. Savron grunted in approval as they defended each other from attacks, coordinating their movements to support each other. Satisfied, he looked over at Igneous, Tirren and Typhous, only to be blindsided by a wyvern from the left. Savron howled as it bit deep into his shoulder, its fangs punching through the chainmail and into his purple scales, drawing blood. Savron's emerald eyes flashed in fury, and he roared as he discharged a blast of electricity into the sky serpent.

Igneous heard Savron's roar, and blazed the last of the wyverns attacking him. He turned and gasped as he saw one of the wyverns clinging to Savron. The purple fell from the sky, unable to keep his balance with the wyrvern clawing at him.

Igneous cursed and dove towards the pair as they fell, smoke drifting out of the corners of his muzzle. Igneous caught up to the combatants as they neared the mushroom canopy. The large red dragon moved up along side them, worked his throat, and then blasted a stream of shimmering ash into the wyvern's face. It shrieked as the ash and smoke seared its eyes, blinding it, and choked as it inhaled the smog. Savron broke away from the writhing creature, and opened his wings, fighting to regain his balance. The wyvern, still howling in agony, fell into the swamp below and vanished.

"Thanks, Iggy." Savron sighed, smiling over at his friend warmly. Igneous returned the grin graciously. Their grins faded as they remembered their friends, and the two looked up. The blood rushed out of Savron's face as he caught sight of Sleet. The young ice drake was fighting desperately against three of the wyverns, with no one to back him up. The beasts clearly sensed he was the weakest link, and hounded him as he attempted to escape, blocking him from going for help.

"Crap crap crap!" Savron hissed, as he beat his wings to get up to the ice dragon. "How could I have been stupid enough to leave him alone! He isn't ready to fight by himself!"

Sleet fought down panic as the wyverns circled him, diving and swooping around. Sleet whirled about, trying to keep all of them in sight, his heart hammering. A wyvern slipped behind the scrawny dragon and slashed him from behind. Sleet yelped in pain, and turned, blasting a wash of ice at the creature. The wyvern dived down to avoid the attack, and another of the three beasts struck at the distracted dragon.

"HELP!" Sleet cried, his eyes watering in pain. "HELP!"

A white blur slammed into the third wyvern as it moved to attack, and it shrieked in pain as it was sent spiraling down, struggling to free itself from the white figure that clawed at it. Sleet turned to look, and a bolt of lightning cut down a wyvern on his left. Sleet glanced up, and blinked in surprise as Voltlyn dove down, electricity crackling across her body. The last of the wyverns shot to the side, and was clipped as the dragoness whipped past it. It writhed in the air as a short jolt of lightning coursed through it, and wasn't able to avoid Lyrith tearing up at it from below.

Sleet sighed in relief, smiling in gratitude as his assailants were ripped to shreds.

"Th... Thanks." Sleet mumbled, glancing up over at the Albino, who hovered beside him panting lightly.

Lyrith snorted, and dropped the bloody remnants of the wyvern. "You guys just can't stay out of trouble, now can you?"

"Look who's shown up!" Savron laughed as he flew up to Sleet, and glanced over at Lyr. "What're you doing here? I thought you weren't coming."

"Yeah, what're you doing here? Change your mind?" Igneous chuckled, gliding over to the small group, stopping beside Voltlyn.

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not here because of your **brilliant** plan, Sav."

"Oh, then why are you here?" Tirren asked as she, Danrah, Vash and Typhous moved over to the group, having finished off the last of the wyverns.

"You're not going to try and stop us, are you?" Savron sneered, his eyes narrowing. "Because I dare you to try."

Lyrith smirked sardonically. "Try to stop you? No. I'd get similar results trying to bash a brick wall down with my forehead. A sense of disappointment and a headache."

Savron laughed, and everyone joined in. "Got that right!"

"I'm here to make sure you don't get yourself killed." Lyrith finished, his smile fading. The laughter dissipated.

"You think we can't protect ourselves?" Vash growled, glaring over at Lyrith. The white dragon returned his gaze solemnly.

"I think you're all in above your head, and don't realize it." Lyrith spoke, his voice hard. "And that you'll be needing all the help you can get."

Vash snarled, and shifted closer to Lyr. Danrah cut in front of him, and smiled over at Lyrith.

"Well, what matters is that you're with us. Thanks for coming."

"Yeah." Savron grinned, flapping over and patting Lyr on the shoulder. "Thanks for coming Lyr, we appreciate you're help."

"You too, Voltlyn." Danrah smiled, moving over to the topaz dragoness. "Thanks for coming."

"O... Oh. It's no problem, really." Voltlyn blushed, averting her eyes.

Vash snorted and looked away, his eyes narrowed. The group, having finished welcoming their two new companions, turned and continued south east. Lyr and Voltlyn keeping to the middle of the group, chatting with their friends to reacquaint themselves with their goal.

After nearly half an hour of flying, Savron slowed and started to descend. Confused, the group followed after.

"What's the matter Sav?" Igneous called, dropping in beside him. "Why're we landing?"

"We have to walk from here." Savron grunted, as he maneuvered through the large mushroom caps, into the swamp bellow.

"Why?" Tirren inquired, cocking an eye ridge. "Why can't we just keep flying. It would be faster.

"Did you see that purple haze in the distance?" Savron asked, looking up at the emerald dragoness. Tirren paused, considering.

"Well..."

"Yeah, sort of." Typhous murmured. "It was kind of like a mist. Why, what was it?"

"Sleet, care to explain?" Savron grunted as he broke through the mushroom canopy and into the swamp below. Sleet cleared his throat.

"Out in the deepest part of the swamp, there's a breed of mushroom trees that release spores in the air. Those spores float above the canopy, and is blow in the wind to other sections of the swamp. Those spores are poisonous to dragons."

"Oh." Danrah gasped, looking up at the sky worriedly. "Then are we really any safer down here? I mean we'll be passing by those same mushroom trees after all..."

Sleet coughed and looked over to the shadow dragoness as they glided down. "Well, the spores are lighter than air due to a special gas that they produce inside of them. Because of that they float above the mushroom canopy. We're relatively safe down here."

"I see." Tirren murmured as they landed.

"We're still not safe down here though." Savron murmured, grimacing as he splashed down into a pool of grimy water. "There's all kinds of nasty stuff out this deep into the swamp. We'll have to keep on guard while we move. We'll keep walking for about hour after the sky stops looking purple. The spores can be hard to see, and they'll be fairly far widespread outside of the cloud. We can't be to careful."

"Right." Igneous nodded.

"Hey, Sav." Tirren giggled, looking over at the purple dragon amused. "I'm surprised, you actually knew about these spores. I'm impressed."

Savron smirked. "Well, mom once told me about it, to try and scare me out of exploring the swamps. Didn't really work."

"Gah! It reeks down here!" Danrah choked, holding a paw over her snout, her muzzle crinkled up in disgust as her paw sank into a patch of soggy, moldy mud.

"Yeah, let's get moving." Typhous whined, his eyes watering from the smell. "I don't want to stay here for any longer than is necessary."

"Alright then, follow me." Savron grunted as he jumped onto a slimy stump, and then over to a wet rock. "Keep an eye out for sink holes and the like, it's very dangerous, so don't leave the group."

Lyrith followed after, skipping across the pool, using the rocks as stepping stones. The going was tough, and they all had to take care when crossing the muddy landscape or pools of stagnant water, keeping a careful eye on those behind them. Vines hung from the mushroom caps, and down near the ground like long, green strands of hair. Mold encrusted rocks and stumps stuck out from the water and ground, making safe paw holds for crossing. A weak breeze blew through the mushroom stalks, bringing with it the rank odor of rotting vegetation which assailed the dragons' nostrils, making them gag and fight down the urge to be sick.

There was no sound in the swamp, no noise of wildlife, no distant bird song or hunting calls to bring life to the desolate jungle. None of the dragons spoke, and only the creak of rotten wood and plop of water sounded in the quiet.

"Stop." Sleet hissed, having taken the lead with Savron. "That pond is acidic, if you touch it, it'll melt the flesh right off of your bones."

The group came to a halt a meter away from the pond, eying the green, bubbling water with apprehension. A light smog drifted off of its surface, and Savron grimaced.

"Crap. Dad told me about things like this. The smog is poisonous, so breathing it in will make you sick."

"What should we do? Go around?" Igneous murmured, staring around at the marsh dubiously. Savron grunted.

"I suppose. It doesn't look that big though, we could just fly over it and hold our breath. It'll cost us less time than going around it."

"Yeah, but it'd be more dangerous." Tirren interjected. "We shouldn't be taking too many risks. That poison would slow us down more than going around would."

"I'm not sure about that." Savron replied. "Look around. There's so much muck and swamp water that going around this one pond could take us almost half an hour. With all the backtracking, and searching for good footing. And trying to fly around it wouldn't be that much easier, with all the vines and trees we'd have to maneuver around."

"Or." Typhous grunted, rolling his eyes. "I can use my wind magic to blow away the smog so you guys can cross, and then you can do the same for me."

Savron stared over at Typhous, a silly grin spreading across his features.

"Hey, that would work. Good idea Ty."

Typhous gave a short bow, and then turned to the pool of acid. He exhaled out a strong gust of wind, blowing the smog to the left and clearing away the poison.

"Okay, hold your breath guys, there still might be some poison left and we don't want to inhale any of it." Savron called, glancing back over his shoulder. Typhous glared at the purple dragon, his expression screaming 'get on with it'. Savron smiled over at Typhous, and winked. "It's a good thing your longwinded." The purple dragon laughed at the grey drakes irritated expression, and then took flight, gliding over the acid pool. They landed, on the other side a few seconds later, sighing in relief. Savron turned back to the pool, and blew the smog away, allowing Typhous to cross.

"Gah! I hope we don't ever have to do that again!" Typhous gasped, shaking his head as he landed. "I hate this swamp! I just want to get out of here! How much longer until we can fly above it!"

Savron looked up, and shook his head. "It's still a ways to go. The sky is violet. We must be under the very center of the cloud."

Typhous sighed in defeat. "Just kill me now."

Lyrith's red eyes flickered over the area as the group assembled and started moving again. His instincts screamed at him that something was wrong, that danger was close, but nothing else sparked his senses. This feeling had been crawling up and down his spine for nearly half an hour, yet nothing had shown itself to the white. The swamp was dead quite, the air all but still. It was like the world was holding its breath. Nothing moved around them, no animals, no muted calls and no rustling of the undergrowth, except where the group tramped through it. Yet, the absence of all of this only added to Lyrith's apprehension.

_"Why is it so quiet?"_ Lyrith thought wearily. _"Where are the animals? Where are the monsters that are supposed to be infesting these swamps?"_

Savron paused at a deep ravine that spanned across their path and eyed the moldy log that stretched over the small chasm. Thick vines hung like curtains across the gap, shrouding the view across, to dense to fly through. The purple dragon took a cautious step onto the log, and pressed down on it. It groaned as Savron applied pressure, the rotting wood creaking dangerously. Savron relieved the pressure, and looked back.

"Only one of us should cross at a time. It's fairly weak and I'm not sure how much weight it can take." The purple dragon whispered, glancing around at the group. "We should distribute the packs out so our weight is closer together. That way it won't break when once of us heavier drakes tries to cross." Savron looked over at Lyrith. "You and Voltlyn aren't wearing much armour, so you should carry the heaviest packs."

Lyrith nodded, and took the pack from Igneous, strapping it on. Voltlyn followed Lyr's lead and took Savron's pack, blushing as he gave her a fond wink and looked her up and down. The group exchanged packs, Typhous getting Lyrith's pack, Tirren getting Typhous's pack, Danrah getting Vash's pack, and Vash getting his sister's pack. Sleet was burdened down with Tirren's pack, and Igneous was left with nothing.

"Okay." Tirren grunted, looking around at the group. "Who's going first?"

Everyone eyed the log speculatively, their new luggage not lending any extra confidence. After a moment, Lyrith snorted, and jumped onto the log.

"I'll go first." The Albino muttered. He stepped out onto the log, and paced across it, his claws gripping the wet, rotten wood tightly as he moved. The group watched as he vanished into the vines with held breath. A minute passed, and a voice called from within.

"It's safe. It's not that far of a walk!"

Voltlyn breathed a sigh of relief at his shout and smiled. Savron grinned.

"Okay, Sleet you go next, then you Rin. Ty. Danrah. Voltlyn. Vash, and you of course Iggy. I'll take up the rear."

Lyrith sat down on the other side, and sat down. He smirked as he heard Savron issuing orders, and breathed a sigh of relief that he had crossed the ravine safely.

A sudden chill ran up the Albino's spine as a low rumbling sound echoed through the jungle, Lyrith took a slow look around, but saw nothing. Primal fear coursed through the Albino's body, rooting him in place.

"Guys?" Lyrith murmured, his voice quavering. There was a short pause, and then Savron responded.

"What is it, Lyr?" Sav asked, plainly puzzled at Lyrith's tone.

"I have a really, really bad feeling about this place." Lyrith answered, his red eyes searching the swamp around him. Sleet emerged from the vines.

Savron started to respond, but was cut off by another rumble, this time closer.

"I do not like the sound of that." Tirren murmured, her voice breaking at the end as she came through. Sleet nodded, his eyes wide with fear. Lyrith sat up slowly, and looked up. The sky was only dimly purple, but that was still more than fatal.

"Hurry it up Sav!" Tirren called back. "Something's not right here!"

Another rumble.

"Okay, go on guys, hurry up, we have go get moving, now!"

The rest of the group came through in a hurry, the fear of falling into the ravine unable to keep them back as their instincts screamed at them to run and hide. Another rumble sounded, like distant thunder, much closer than the others.

Savron emerged from the vines, his emerald eyes flicking from side to side.

"Okay, let's go." He whispered, his voice weak and fearful. The group set off through the swamp quickly, listening as the rumbling grew closer, and closer.

Lyrith's heart pounded in his chest as he moved, skipping across stepping stones and ducking under obstacles. The group sped over the terrain, their walk growing into a trot, which quickly evolved into a barely contained gallop as the rumbling drew closer, growing in frequency.

Then, it stopped.

The group came to a halt, and glanced each other anxiously. Lyrith swallowed, and looked around. His red eyes scanned the dark swamp, his body quivering. A low hissing sound echoed from above, and quivering, the group looked up.

A colossal creature hung from the mushroom caps high above. It's rattlesnake like tail rattled, and a rumbling sound echoed around the clearing loud as thunder. It dropped to the ground with a crash, landing on all four of it's massive, webbed reptilian feet. It glared down at the group of dragon with it's nine glowing red eyes. It's ape like face cracked into a malicious sneer, revealing rows of long, jagged fangs. Its four arms flexed on its massive furred upper body, it's taloned fingers twitching in anticipation.

The nine dragon stared up at the monster in horror as it leered down at the tiny dragons. It took a step forward, hissing eagerly as it stalked towards the frozen drakes.

"RUN FOR IT!" Savron screamed, turning and bolting into the swamp. The others didn't need any further encouragement, and tore after their purple friend. The monster howled, and blur after its prey, it's reptilian lower body slithering through the swampy land.

"WHAT IS THAT THING!" Savron roared as they dodged through the undergrowth, desperately trying to escape.

"I HAVE NO IDEA!" Sleet screamed as he splashed through the water.

"SHIT! THAT THING MUST BE **TEN TIMES** OUR SIZE!" Lyrith cursed, as he jumped onto a rock and leapt over to another boulder. Abruptly, the monster exploded out of the swamp to the dragons' left, and howled in triumph. It lashed out with one of its four, massive arms and snatched Lyrith out of the air as he leapt from rock to rock.

"LYRITH!" Voltlyn screamed, seeing the white dragon squirm in the monster's grasp. Lyr roared in pain as it slowly began to crush him, cooing in pleasure as he clawed vainly at its furry, bark-like skin. Voltlyn stopped her sprint, and spat a bolt of lightning at the monster's wrist, hoping to make it let go. It hissed in pain as the lightning seared it, but only tightened its grip, eliciting another howl of pain from the Albino. The monster growled and slapped Voltlyn with its tail, sending her crashing into the base of a mushroom stalk where she lay, stunned.

"Dammit!" Savron cursed, turning and taking flight, right towards the beast. He roared and blasted a flurry of fireballs at the creature. They detonated violently against it's torso, scorching it and causing it to stagger back from the barrage. Igneous followed up Savron's attack with a blaze of white flame at it's legs. The monster snarled and stamped down at the red dragon, only for Igneous to dodge out of the way and take flight.

Lyrith gasped for breath as it clutched him in its fist like a small rag doll, squeezing the life out of him with its vice-like grip. The Albino's bones creaked under the pressure, and Lyr started to see spots as asphyxiation began to settle in. Tirren blasted a ball of stone at the creatures face. It roared in pain, and swatted the emerald dragon from the air with a backhanded slap. Tirren crashed into the soggy ground, and groaned as she struggled back up to her paws.

Danrah rushed over to Voltlyn and helped her to her paws. Voltlyn nodded her thanks, and joined the fray once more, her ocean blue eyes intent. She flew straight up to the monster's face, avoiding its taloned hands, and lashed out at its eyes with a cord of lightning. The whip of electricity seared through three of its nine red eyes, and the monster roared in agony, stumbling back and dropping Lyrith to clutch at its face. The white dragon landed in a stagnant puddle, and lay unmoving, gasping in great lungfuls of air.

Sleet, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines, saw Lyr fall to the ground. The ice dragon swallowed hard, and building up his courage, inhaling deeply. Sleet rushed the monster, exhaled a gout of liquid ice over the beast as it clutched at its face. The ice sloshed over its upper body and legs, and solidified, coating it in a foot of ice. It bellowed as it struggled to free itself, jerking from side to side as it tried to free itself from its prison.

"Are you alright, Lyrith?" Voltlyn asked as she landed beside him.

"No... not really." Lyrith wheezed, shuddering as the pain in his body slowly subsided.

"Here, eat this." Savron murmured, gliding down beside the two, and reaching into his pack. He produced a life crystal, Lyrith took it and swallowed it, sighing in relief as he felt its magic alleviate his pain.

"Thanks." Lyrith murmured, getting shakily to his paws. Savron smirked, and looked over at Sleet, grinning.

"Good job, that thing was slaughtering us."

"No problem." Sleet smiled weakly.

"Not to rush you guys or anything," Tirren murmured, drawing their attention. "but I think we should get going... like right now."

A loud cracking noise split the air, and Savron glanced back over to the monster, who had just wrenched an arm free from the ice, sending a shower of frozen shards flying across the clearing. The group looked over at the monster as it proceeded to free itself, growling in fury down at its prey.

"Come on Savron, there's no way we can kill that thing." Typhous murmured, gulping as it broke its second arm free. "We have to go!"

Savron hesitated, his common sense combating his dragonic pride, before winning out. He looked up at the sky, ignoring the monster slowly breaking away the ice that shackled it. The sky was a clear, bright blue with no trace of the spores. Savron swallowed hard, and then nodded.

"Okay, let's go. It's time we get out of this swamp. It's safer up there, risking spores than it is down here with this thing anyway."

The monster broke its second arm free, and started clawing at the ice coating its other arms. The dragons glanced back at the monster as they took off, quickly ascending into the sky, high above the swampy earth, and up into the sky. The monster roared in vain fury as it watched its prey escape, it's six red eyes blazing in anger as the dragons vanished above the mushroom caps.

"Ancestors." Savron sighed, as they broke free of the swamp. "If mom and dad had told me about that thing instead of all the nasty frogweeds and Bulbspiders, I would have never gone near the swamp. Sheesh."

"Good luck convincing any of us to explore the swamp with you now." Tirren grumbled, her body quivering as the adrenaline bled from her system. "That thing will be haunting my nightmares for **years**."

"You can say that again." Igneous said, chuckling weakly.

"You won't ever have to worry about that." Savron replied, his muzzle forming a small smile. "I'm just as scared of this place as you guys now."

"You okay, Lyr?" Voltlyn whispered as she glided beside the white dragon, who was struggling to keep up. He nodded weakly.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to be much use in a fight right now." He panted, grimacing as pain throbbed through his body. Voltlyn looked at him sympathetically, and hovered a little closer to him. Savron turned and flew away from the swamp, moving quickly before they could inhale too many stray spores.

The sun had risen well into the sky, and shone down on the dragons as they sped over the mushroom trees, towards a distant line of mountains rising up over the horizon. The dark clouds that had been following after the dragons, had started to close the distance, and now loomed up threateningly behind the group like a great tidal wave of grey mist. The winds had picked up, and now gusted hard, pushing the dragons quickly towards their destination.

"So Sav? What'll we do once we're there?" Danrah asked, flying up so she was next to the purple dragon. "I know what we're doing and all, but will you just go and tell your parents about this trap?"

Savron nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. Even if they don't believe me entirely, they'll at least be on guard."

"Makes sense." The shadow dragoness shrugged, smiling. "Though I bet you kind of hope you do arrive during a battle."

"Just a little." Savron snickered. "I want to rip some smug feran and panther bastards to pieces for what they've done."

Conversation lulled for a short while after that, and the dragons flew in relative silence for several more minutes as they drew closer to the range of mountains.

"Savron!" Typhous shouted over to the purple as they neared the mountains. "We have to land!"

"Why? What's the matter?" Savron shouted back as the wind blustered around them, batting at them.

"The storm is catching up with us! In another hour or so it'll hit. If we press on into the mountains we'll be battered up against the cliffs. We have to land and make our way by paw!"

Savron cursed. "Dammit! It's just delay after delay isn't it! Alright, let's land. There's a cave over there that we can rest in. It's been a hard day."

The others grumbled in agreement, and began their decent towards the cave that yawned open in the mountain side. Behind them, thunder cracked, and the distant rumble of rain falling sounded, threatening of the violent gale approaching. The group landed at the lip of the cave, and cautiously entered, gazing into its dark depths wearily. Igneous produced a torch, lit it, and gave it to Savron, who took the lead.

"Hm... It's pretty deep." Savron grunted around his torch as the moved deeper into the cave. "I can't find the back of the cave." Savron looked back over his shoulder towards Tirren. "Hey, Rin. Think you can..."

"It's a tunnel, and a long one." Tirren answered, cutting the purple off. She stood rooted in place, eyes closed as emerald energy pulsing out of her and into the stone. "It connects to dozens of other caves all over the place. It's huge. I can't feel it all out."

"Cool." Savron grinned. "Too bad we're on a mission, I would love to explore this place."

"Yeah, too bad." Igneous agreed.

Voltlyn looked around the cave with interest, noting the stalactites hanging from the roof, and the shimmering pool that was nestled in one corner of the cave.

"Wow." She murmured, looking into the pool, and gazing down at the clear water. At the bottom of the pool, she could just make out a vague shimmering which gleamed in the light of Savron's distant torch. Voltlyn reached into the pool, shivering as the icy cold water bit at her scales, and touched the shining object. It was solid but small, and Voltlyn easily pulled it free from the ground and out of the water. In her paw she held a large, gleaming ruby. Voltlyn's eye's bulged in shock, her muzzle falling open as she realized what she was carrying. She touched it gently with her a paw, feeling the stone carefully, as if afraid it would vanish. It was rough and uncut, almost egg shaped, and easily as large as her eye. Dirt and bits of stone clung to its sides, but the crimson red of the gem shone though, bright as blood.

Voltlyn glanced around furtively at the other dragons. None of them paid her any mind, chatting as they lay down to get some rest. The topaz dragoness looked back down at the gem, and slid it into her neck pouch, grateful they had all switched their packs back to their original owners. Voltlyn turned and made her way over to a secluded corner of the cave, only to be stopped short as she caught sight of Lyrith. The white dragon stood at the mouth of the cave, staring into the darkness intently. His body almost seemed to be quivering, and his jaw clenched and unclenched as if he was chewing something revolting.

"Uh... Lyr, are you okay?" Voltlyn asked, padding over to where the Albino sat. She flinched as the first spatters of rain hit her, and took a step back so that she was sheltered inside the cave once more. Lyrith stood unmoving, even as the rain fell down upon him.

Lyrith turned his red eyes over to Voltlyn, and swallowed. "Yeah, I'm alright." Lyrith took a hesitant step into the cave. Voltlyn watched him, puzzled as he took a deep breath and moved deeper into the cave, striding purposefully into the dark. Then, she shrugged and followed him in.

A sudden explosion of thunder caused everyone in the room to jump, as arcs of lightning tore through the sky, striking the mountain they hid in. The boom subsided, and was followed by deathly silence.

Then, a low grinding rumbled from above, and the dragons looked at each other, eyes wide.

"What is..." Savron began, but Tirren cut him off.

"ROCK SLIDE! TAKE COVER!"

Everyone stared at Tirren for a moment, and then bolted deep into the cave. Behind them, the cave entrance was swallowed up in a massive cascade of boulders which pounded down past the entrance. Dust and dirt billowed up as the rocks piled up in front of the entrance, spilling in with a shower of pebbles and debris. A minute passed before the rumbling and shaking stopped, and the dragons looked up from where they had thrown themselves to the floor. The once gaping hole in the mountain side was gone, replaced by a mound of rock, stone and dirt.

"Shit." Savron spat, getting up and gripped the torch he had dropped in his muzzle. "Shit shit shit!" The purple dragon rushed over to the sealed entrance. He reared up and beat his paws on it, cursing as the rubble refused to budge.

"Stop it Sav! You might dislodge some rocks and get yourself hurt!" Tirren snarled, moving up beside Savron and glaring straight into his eyes.

The purple dragon huffed, and looked away, kicking at the boulders. "**What** are the **fucking** odds that the cave we happen to be resting in, gets sealed off by a rockslide started by a bolt of lightning! I mean seriously! This kind of thing only happens in lame, half-assed story books to create suspense!"

"Settle down, Sav." Igneous grunted, padding over to his purple friend. "It isn't so bad. We can just dig our way out, can't we?"

"Don't be daft." Savron snorted irritably, sitting down on his haunches and shaking his head.

Tirren shot Savron a dirty look. "Don't be so rude, Sav. We're trapped in here too, you know." The emerald dragoness then sighed, and looked over at Igneous sorrowfully. "Unfortunately we can't. The rubble is still too unstable, even using earth magic it won't support that kind of vibrations. It'll just collapse and get someone killed."

"So you're saying we're stuck here." Lyrith murmured from the shadows of the cave, his voice quavering a bit as he spoke.

"Not necessarily." Tirren replied, glancing over at the Albino. "We still have a chance of finding our way out through these caves. There are dozens of tunnels in this mountain. One of them has to lead to the surface, or at least close enough to it for us to dig our way out."

"Well, I suppose we don't have much choice." Vash grumbled, shaking his head, the spiny tendrils crowning it whipping around at the action.

"Looks like you get your wish to explore these caves after all, Savron." Danrah chirped, grinning over at the purple dragon.

Savron grinned wryly. "I suppose. I just wish it had been on my terms, and not on a deadline."

"Don't we all." Typhous sighed, rolling his eyes.

Savron chuckled weakly, and pulled several more torches from his pack. He and Igneous lit the torches, and passed them around the group.

"Don't worry," Danrah smirked as Savron came around to her. "I have one of my own." The black dragoness pulled out a metal lantern from her pack, and turned a switch. A bright, yellow light shone out from a glass eye in the lantern, and Danrah gripped the handle in her muzzle.

"Neat toy." Savron smiled. "I need to get me one of those."

"They're really useful." Danrah said, nodding, causing the light of the lantern to sway up and down. "They're powered by magic crystals though, so they can be expensive to use."

"Oh, I see." Savron nodded in understanding. He then moved on and passed a lantern over to Lyrith, who took it with a nod.

Once everyone was armed with a source of light they set off into the cave, keeping close so as not to lose each other, Savron leading the way. Dripping water echoed emptily through the tunnel as they moved, the walls around them gleaming damply in the light of the torches. Ahead, oppressive darkness shrouded their view, pushed back by the shining light, only to close around behind them once more.

Hours seemed to pass in the darkness, the pauses in the groups' conversations grew more and more frequent as the silence pressed down upon them. The tunnel branched off into dozens of passageways, and at each one Tirren would stop and feel out the shape of the tunnel before they moved on. At the back of the group, Lyrith followed in silence, never speaking a word. His red eyes flickered from side to side as the tunnel grew gradually smaller, until they were forced to walk in single file through the stone passage way. Occasionally, Voltlyn would glance back worriedly at the Albino, concerned with his anxious fidgeting.

The lightning dragoness considered saying something to the white, but was cut short by an exclamation from Tirren.

"What? These don't feel like natural caves..."

"What do you mean?" Savron asked, turning to face her, his curiosity piqued.

"I mean that this tunnel just... changes up ahead. It become more angular, more refined. And there are structures in there as well... they feel like statues and monuments."

Savron's expression broke into a grin, and Igneous groaned in consternation.

"Really Sav? You're thinking of adventure now of all times?"

"Why not?" Savron demanded, looking to his old friend incredulously. "I mean, they're right in our path, why not check it out?"

The dragons looked at each other with concerned expressions, but none came forward with any objections. Savron smirked, and nodded.

"Right, so let's get going! Maybe it'll lead to a way out!" Savron turned away and started heading down a path, only to turn back, his expression sheepish. "Uh... Which way is it?"

Tirren sighed, and pointed down the path Savron had taken, to her right. Savron grinned and resumed his sauntering down the path. The group snickered, and followed after him, jogging to catch up.

The twisting, twining tunnel led on for nearly another minute, before the rough, slimy stone walls gave way to smooth, carved walls. Rotten, wooden planks lay on the ground from where they came through, with old rusty nails sticking out from them. Moss covered portions of the walls, and chunks of the ceiling had given way, leaving hunks of stone strewn across the ground. Old, worn effigies were placed down the hall, statues of beings that none of the dragons recognized. The monuments vaguely resembled cheetahs and canines, but were strangely contorted. Limbs bent backwards and they grasped their weapons at odd angles. Large, bat like wings were furled against their backs. What remained of their faces were crooked and monstrous, with sunken eyes and deformed faces.

To the sides of each of these statues, squat, stone tombs rested, carved with strange sigils and markings that had been long worn away by the endless dripping of water. Stagnant pools splashed against the drakes' paws as they entered, and the reeking smell of decay assailed their nostrils once more.

"W... what is this place?" Voltlyn asked, looking around wearily.

"It looks like a crypt." Savron answered, his green eyes flashing with excitement. "A very, very old crypt."

"I wonder who it is for." Tirren murmured, moving over to the statues, and examining them curiously. "I've never seen, or heard of anything like this. Are these some kind of ancestors to the cheetahs?"

"I don't know." Sleet murmured, coming to a stop beside Tirren, and examining the statue with her. "But I'm not convinced. The felines, all the felines supposedly descended from the Sabraens, a tribe of vicious warrior cats with fangs the size of daggers, I've never heard of a race like these before..."

"Woah, look at this!" Savron exclaimed. "Come on, this is awesome!"

Everyone turned to face the purple, who had delved deeper into the crypt, and jogged after him, curious to see what he had discovered. They slowed to a stop beside the purple dragon, who stood in front of a pedestal, gazing at a massive urn displayed there. The paintings on the urn were smudged with age, however much of it was still decipherable.

Across the surface of the urn, a great battle was being waged, the winged, twisted felines on one side, driving a force of canines, cats, and moles towards a line of dragons. Behind the winged beasts, a figure, armoured in darkness stood, a sword of malevolent blue energy in one hand, and a fistful of lightning in the other. At the forefront of the dragons stood a young drake, his hide a greyish green, with swirling white patterns dancing across his scales. Above the armies, a storm raged, with lightning falling on both sides.

The gang of dragons stared at the urn in awe, soaking in every little detail.

"Wow." Sleet murmured, this is... incredible."

"This whole place is incredible." Igneous added, nodding in agreement.

"Unfortunately we're on a tight schedule, so we can't exactly stay and explore." Tirren grumbled, turning away. "Come on Sav, you're the one pulled us all into this adventure, so don't go dragging your paws in now that you've found something cool."

Savron smirked, and nodded. "Fine, fine. Just let me get a souvenir." The purple dragon stepped over to a second pedestal, and plucked an amulet off of it. The tomb around the dragons rumbled, dust scattering everywhere as the tombs ground open. Lyrith, who had been sitting at the back of the crowd, gazing around with wide eyes, jumped, hissing as the lids slid off, nearly landing on his tail. He crouched, back arched as black, taloned claws reached out from the tombs, and clutched the sides of the tombs. Hideous, reptilian bird-like-creatures pulled themselves from the coffins, black hides gleaming in the torch light. They slithered out from the coffins, beaked faces snapping, beaded eyes glittering in malicious hunger. Fangs lined their beaks, and forked, snake-like tongues flickered out to taste the air.

The drakes stared as the monsters surrounded them, eyes wide. The creatures screamed, the high pitched sound causing the dragons to flinch, and then struck, cackling. The gang hesitated for only a moment before dropping their torches and unleashing a wave of elemental magic. Lyrith leapt out of the way, narrowly avoiding both the blast of energy and the monsters, and then lashed out with his tail blade, slashing one of the creature's sides.

The swarm of black creatures howled in pain and retreated, scattering as they were bombarded with fire, ice, and lightning. Lyrith growled and looked down at his tail spike, and was surprised to see the blackish blood evaporating off of the metal blade.

"What the hell were those things?" Typhous demanded, staring at the monsters who lurked in the shadows, nursing their wounds.

"I don't know!" Sleet exclaimed, panting.

"It seems like we're seeing a lot of stuff today that we've never heard of before." Igneous muttered, shaking his head.

"Yeah, it's actually a little unsettling." Savron replied, looking around the room. "Damn, I think I dropped the amulet..."

"Who cares about a stupid amulet, Sav!" Tirren spat, glaring at the purple dragon. "We have to get out of here now! Who knows how many of those things are lurking around here, we..."

With a howl, the horde launched itself at the group once more, talons raking the air eagerly. They were met with another barrage of elemental blasts, the dragons clustering together as they approached. From down a side passage more screeching sounded, and a swarm of the black, reptilian bird monsters poured out, racing at the group of drakes. Savron snarled, and pounded his paw into the earth, sending a flash of green energy into the stone. The ground burst open, and a mound of earth and rock spewed into the air, forming a wall of debris and rubble. The purple dragon turned to his companions, and snorted.

"Fine, let's get going, there's still that path, hopefully we can find our way out of this damn mountain."

From behind the mounds of dirt, the creatures shrieked and started clawing their way through, talons slicing through the rock with agonizing grating noises. Grimacing, the group nodded, and, picking up their torches, turned to the one path left to them, and raced quickly through the darkness. Statues and tombs flashed by the drakes as they tore through the dank, musty halls. Coffins ripped open as more of the beasts awakened, clambering out from the tombs to block the dragons' path, they were torn apart on the spot.

Savron abruptly cried out in alarm, and skidded to a halt. Igneous, Tirren, Typhous, Sleet, Danrah, Voltlyn, Vash and Lyrith saw the purple dragon grind to a halt, and desperately, dug their paws in. They slammed headlong into the purple dragon, and collapsed in a heap on the ground. They pushed and shoved their way back to their paws, only to find themselves backed up against a wall, caged in by the reptilian bird monsters.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tirren moaned, putting a paw to her face as the drakes formed a tight knot to fend off the beasts. She glanced over and examined the rough, uncut wall with a despairing gaze. "Now what?"

"Now I guess we fight our way back out." Savron grunted, lowering himself into a battle stance as the beasts advanced.

"Sav, wait!" Danrah exclaimed, her turning her lantern to the wall. "I think there's a gap here we can squeeze through!"

Tirren returned her gaze to the wall, and to her surprise saw the crack etched in the wall, just big enough for them to fit into. Savron glanced back, and opened his muzzle to reply, when the beasts lurched forward, screeching. They crashed into the wall of dragons, talons screeching off of armour, and beaks snapping in eager bloodlust. The drakes pushed back, paws swiping, fangs flashing and magic flashing.

Lyrith tore into the horde of beasts, snarling as his chipped claws ripped through the beasts' flesh and bones. Beside him, Igneous and Savron forced back the mob with blazes of fire, while from behind, Voltlyn and Sleet lashed out with cords of lightning, and waves of liquid ice.

"You guys hold them off, I'll see if it leads anywhere!" Danrah exclaimed, turned and squeezing into the crack, holding her lantern out in front of her, disappearing from sight. Lyrith sidestepped a swipe, and then raked his claws across the beaked face of one of the beasts. It howled and staggered away, giving the group a moment of respite as the monsters were forced back.

A whoop sounded from the crack, and Danrah's voice echoed back to them. "There's a tunnel on the other side, and I think I smell fresh air!"

Savron grinned. "Guess we took the right path after all." The purple dragon glanced over at his companions as the monsters surged forward again. "Alight, you guys go in one by one, while we fend off these freaks. I'll go last since I caused his mess, and I'll seal up the tomb once everyone is out. Got it?"

Tirren looked back at Savron, concerned. "But what if the tunnel collapses on you, we won't be able to..."

"Just GO!" Savron roared, his green eyes narrowing angrily as he turned to face the returning tide of black scaled beasts. "I know what I'm doing, I can take care of myself you know!"

Tirren hesitated, and then nodded. She turned to the crack, and squeezed through, dropping her torch in order to fit through. Sleet followed her a moment later, along with Voltlyn. Lyrith broke away from the line at Savron's urging, and padded up to the crevice. He stopped at the crack, ridged as a board, and refused to budge.

"What're you doing, Lyrith!" Igneous grunted, exasperated as Lyrith stood, staring into the dark crack, his red eyes wide. "Get going! We don't have all day!"

"I... I can't..." Lyrith murmured, swallowing hard. "I... I just can't..."

"Why the hell not!" Savron hissed, blazing a swath of the beasts with a wave of shadow fire.

"Is whitey afraid of the dark?" Vash taunted, sneering and giving the white dragon a small push. Lyrith didn't respond.

Savron glanced back when he realized Lyrith hadn't snapped back, and frowned. "Wait, seriously? Are you afraid of the dark?"

"I think it might be more along the lines of claustrophobia!" Sleet called from the other side of the crevice. "Lyr's been acting weird ever since we entered the cave, but I only just made the connection."

The white dragon glanced momentarily at the purple dragon, and swallowed hard. Savron snorted and ducked a swipe of talons, and sent a burst of lightning into the crowded horde of beasts.

"Alright then, that leaves you with only two choices, Lyr." Savron grunted, panting for breath as the black scaled monsters retreated. "Stay here in the dark cave with these nasties forever, never seeing the light of day again, or to be brave, go through that hole, and never having to come back."

Lyrith glanced between Savron and the crevice, eyes wide with terror and then stepped forward and squeezed through, wriggling his way out of sight. Savron smirked, and turned back to face the skulking horde. They swarmed back forward as Vash followed after Lyrith, pushing himself through the gap and vanishing from view. The purple dragon snorted and spat out a blaze of liquid flame, forcing the horde back once more.

Once Igneous and his remaining companions had fled through the gap, Savron edged over to the gap, hoping to make his escape before the shadowy beasts could regroup. They saw the last of their prey attempting to sneak away, and howled in fury, charging forward blindly. Savron grimaced, and slapped the wall with a paw.

An explosion of green energy ripped through the crypt wall, busting apart the worn bricks and stone in a storm of chips. The mob of beasts ground to a halt as the shrapnel ripped through them, black, ectoplasmic blood spattering across the walls and floor. Savron slipped through the crevice as the stones of the ceiling crumbled inward, crushing the survivors and burying the tomb in rubble.

The cluster of dragons jumped back as Savron rolled from the crevice, a blast of dust billowing out around him. He sneezed, covered head to paw in dust and powdered stone.

"You alright?" Typhous asked, concerned as he helped the purple to his paws.

Savron sneezed again. "Uh... yeah. I think so..."

Igneous slapped Savron on the back with a hefty paw, and the dust puffed off of the purple, shaken free.

"Wow, that was one hell of an adventure, huh?" The bulky red chuckled, helping steady Savron, who he had just knocked off balance.

"Yeah, so far, in one day we've nearly been eaten by a monster, killed by a rockslide, and torn apart in a random tomb." Tirren muttered, shaking her head. "What an adventure. Can we go now?"

Igneous frowned at the emerald dragoness, an eye ridge raised. Savron chuckled weakly, and pushed himself away from Igneous.

"Yeah, let's go. I want nothing more than to get out of this place."

Igneous looked back over at Savron, and then shrugged. Savron took the lead once more, padding through the winding tunnel, with only the light from Danrah's lamp to guide them. They gradually sped up as the whisper of wind tickled their senses, the sweet smell of fresh air tantalizingly close by.

"Savron." Lyrith murmured, padding up to the purple as they jogged through the damp cave. "Thanks for that. I panicked and didn't know what to do. I let fear cloud my judgement. If you hadn't egged me on, I might never have left."

"Aw, don't worry about it." Savron laughed, breathlessly. "It happens to the best of us! Why, I was once so afraid of bats, that I actually pissed myself when I first explored a cave!"

Lyrith laughed at Savron's playful smirk, and the tension left him. Voltlyn smiled at his relaxed laughter, glad to see Lyrith returning to his old self again.

"Hey look! I see light!" Sleet cried, as they rounded a bend in the tunnel. The small ice dragon pointed towards the small well of light shining at the end of the passage, and all but leapt into the air with joy. The others all looked down at the light, and hesitated, eyes gleaming with hope. Lyrith bolted down the passage way towards the light, stretching his body out to its full length as he bounded down the hall at a full sprint. The group raced after the white dragon, almost as eager to escape the dark, dingy caves as their friend.

They charged out of the darkness of the caves, and out into the bright light of the outside world. Lightning flashed above as the storm raged, rain lashing down upon the dragons heads relentlessly. They hardly noticed as they laughed and whooped with joy, free from the oppressive mountain caves. They had emerged out from a wide, open cave yawning wide open on the side of a cliff face. Stretching out before them was a verdant valley, nestled deep within the mountains. The crescent moons peered out between the roiling clouds now and again, before being buried in a blanket of mist.

Lyrith stood at the edge of the slope, taking in deep gulps of fresh air, relieved to be free from his own personal hell.

"Thank the ancestors!" Savron laughed, a smile creasing his features. "Finally a place to rest! Maybe it'll actually be safe for once!"

"Come on Sav." Sleet whined. "Don't jinx it."

"Yeah Sav, don't open your big muzzle!" Tirren chuckled. "We all know stuff goes horribly wrong when you do."

"Fine fine." Savron sighed, dramatically. "I'll be quiet about our good fortunes and how things can't possibly get any worse than they were."

A loud crack of thunder made all the dragons, including Savron, jump in shock. They whirled around, expecting another rockslide, but to their relief, nothing happened. Savron laughed, breathless from the shock of the thunder, his heart hammering. The others joined him, rushed by the adrenaline pumping through their veins.

"Well, shall we go then? I'm hungry for some fresh meat." Savron said, his laughter slowly dying away.

"Yeah, we haven't eaten all day!" Igneous grumbled, putting a paw to his stomach, which growled irritably.

They descended down into the valley, taking cover from the rain in the foliage of the massive trees. They ran through the valley, racing through the fields of moonlight flowers, groves of ancient trees, and rolling hills. The dragons stopped at a rocky overhang just as the storm started to abate, and lay down underneath it, resting in the springy grass to catch their breath.

"Well, who's going hunting?" Savron panted, looking up over the group. The others all raised their heads to look at the purple dragon. "Well, I was thinking we would split up into two groups. One to hunt, the other to set up camp." Savron elaborated, grinning.

"Oh." Danrah murmured. "I see. I think I'll stay here and set up camp. I'm not really a patient hunter."

"I'll go." Lyrith grunted, getting to his paws and stretching languidly. " I still feel a little stiff. A nice hunt might get the last of it out of me."

Vash glared over at Lyrith, and stood. "I will go as well."

Lyrith glared back at Vash, but said nothing.

"I'll go too." Tirren sighed. "I'd like to see more of this valley before we leave anyway, it's beautiful here."

"Alright." Savron smiled. "Have fun you three."

Vash grunted, and turned away, padding into the wilderness. Lyrith stared at him as he vanished into the trees, and then snorted and silently loped into the undergrowth. Tirren looked between them, her expression concerned, and then shrugged. She took to the trees, her green hide blending into the leaves, and began searching for prey. Behind her, she heard Savron begin ordering the others on their tasks.

"Okay, Typhous, Voltlyn. Go get some fire wood. Sleet, Danrah start unpacking the sleeping mats. Igneous, when Ty and Voltlyn get back, you will start the fire. I'll get rocks for the fire..."

...

Lyrith moved through the underbrush quickly and quietly, bringing everything he'd learned in survival class to bear. He carefully avoided stepping on any twigs he came across, only occasionally missing his step and snapping one. He slid through the undergrowth, keeping low so the faint moonlight wouldn't catch his snow white scales.

Above, the clouds were beginning to dissipate as they bled themselves out over the worlds, revealing the tapestry of stars glittering in the sky. The wind whispered faintly though the trees, and Lyr was careful to move against the wind, so no animal he found would be able to detect him. He glided through the trees like a wraith, his sharp red eyes alert for any sign of movement.

Finally, after nearly half an hour of searching, a small flash of movement caught his eyes. Lyrith stopped, and crouched low in the bushes, his eyes searching the foliage for what had moved. He saw it again, and his gaze latched onto a young doe, grazing in a small glade. Lyrith's eyes flashed, as he started stalking closer, moving to the side so a sudden change in the wind wouldn't likely give him away.

The doe was nearly Lyrith's size, being only a little shorter than him. It was fairly filled out, but far from plump. Lyrith stalked the beast slowly, inching closer to close the distance. Lyrith took a step forward, and felt a twig under his paw. He glanced down, and cautiously placed his paw in a safer location. He glanced up and saw the doe beginning to moved away, turning away from him. He pounced.

The white dragon shot from the undergrowth, towards the deer, bounding across the ground. The doe froze, and glanced back around before making a run for it. It was that moment of hesitation that cost it its life. Lyrith slammed into it, his jaws catching its neck and ripping its throat out. The deer went down, dead the moment it hit the ground. Lyrith spat out its blood, and looked down at the deer, deciding how he would bring it back with him to the camp. It was going to be heavy, and a hard walk if he carried it.

Lyrith considered the last one, and then dismissed it. "_I'd probably waste half of it if I tried carving it up."_ Lyrith decided, heaving the dead deer over his back. _"It's best if I just bring it back to camp."_

The campsite was calm, and tidy when Lyrith arrived. Savron, Typhous, Voltlyn, Sleet and Danrah all sat by the fire, chatting as Tirren and Igneous cleaned a bunch of plump hares, skinning and gutting the small animals. Lyrith moved over to them, and dropped his doe beside the seven rabbits.

"Nice catch, Lyr." Igneous grinned, sizing up the doe. "If Vash get's anything similar, we'll have more meat than we can eat."

"Ooh, a doe!" Savron murmured, padding over to gaze down at the dead animals. "I'm thinking rabbit stew and venison steaks, how does that sound?"

"Oh yes! That sounds excellent!" Sleet said, licking his chops. Danrah nodded in agreement.

"You can add bacon to that!" A voice grunted from the bushes. Everyone turned to look, as Vash appeared out from the bushes, dragging behind him a massive boar. The dark blue, cloud patterned dragon grinned at everyones stunned expressions. "And ham, lots of ham."

"Woah! Look at the size of that thing!" Tirren gasped, staring at the boar. "It must be two hundred pounds! Maybe more!"

"Yeah, though Its beginning to feel like a ton." Vash grumbled, taking a shaky step forward. "Mind helping?"

Savron, Danrah and Typhous all moved to help the dream dragon carry his burden over to where Tirren, Igneous and Lyrith sat, and dumped the boar on top of the deer. Vash panted, and looked over to Lyrith, grinning in triumph. Lyrith snorted and rolled his eyes before looking away. Vash swaggered over to the fire, head held high. Tirren glanced between Vash and Lyrith, confused.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

Lyrith shrugged. "I have no idea."

Tirren and Igneous finished carving up the rabbits, and proceeded onto skin the boar. As they stripped it of its flesh, they showed Lyrith the easiest, and least messy way of cleaning an animal. Once they were done, they let Lyrith carve up the doe he brought in.

The three carried the meat over to the fire, and piled it up on a rock by the camp fire. Savron carefully sorted through the meat, and dumped the rabbit meat into the pot of boiling water that broiled over the fire. Then, he threw in the herbs he had been busy dicing, and started humming merrily as he stirred the pot. Igneous grinned and grabbed the slabs of venison, and placed them on heated rocks he had taken from the fire.

Tirren, Lyrith, Sleet and Voltlyn all stared at the two dragons as they cooked, whistling and humming away. Savron looked up at his friends, and noticed them staring.

"What?" He asked.

"Well, I guess I just never thought you the type to cook, Sav, Igneous." Tirren responded, a little taken aback. Savron snorted.

"Well as it happens I take great pleasure in the culinary arts. I just don't have much reason to use them, that's all."

"Mom taught us." Igneous explained, grinning. "Sav was a surprisingly good student."

"Really?" Sleet snorted.

"You sound surprised." Savron scolded, glowering. "I can be a good student, if the material is interesting."

Conversation lulled for a bit, and Savron continued stirring up the stew, adding bits of herbs and spices as it thickened. Igneous threw on the ham and bacon, and served up the venison. The dragons took the food eagerly, starving from their long day on the move.

"Mmm. Thish musht be the besht meal I'ff effer had." Sleet mumbled through a muzzle full of steak as he scarfed down his meal.

"I have to agree with you there, Sleet." Typhous sighed, dabbing at his muzzle with a kerchief he had pulled form his sack. "I haven't been this satisfied in ages."

"It was great." Lyrith sighed, getting up and stretching, leaving the bones of his meal laying on the ground. "But I'm full, I'll be going to bed now."

"Aw, but I haven't even served the bacon yet!" Savron cried, waving a strip of bacon in the air. "You sure you don't want any?"

"No, I'm fine." Lyrith smiled, turning away. Vash grinned.

"Yeah, go on Snowy, only real dragons should get to enjoy the fruits of my hunt."

Lyrith stopped halfway across the campsite, and turned back to look at the dream dragon.

"What?" The colourless dragon growled, glaring at the dark blue dragon.

"Vash!" Danrah growled, smacking her brother across the back of the head. Vash snorted in pain, and glanced away.

"You know, I hate to ask, but what is your problem, Vash?" Tirren snarled, looking over at the dream dragon incredulously. "All I've seen you do today is insult Lyrith. You glare at him, trip him up, get in his way and throw jibes at him. What's he ever done to you?"

"Yeah!" Sleet grumbled. "He's done nothing wrong!"

Vash glared around at the accusing faces and sneered. "Like you would understand."

"Try us." Igneous snorted. Lyrith sat down, his face impassive as he watched the scene. His eyes however were hard and cold as ice.

"Fine." Vash grunted. "To be brutally honest, I just don't like him. He's a thug. He goes around doing whatever he feels like, not caring one wick about his actions. And yet he has the nerve to look down on us all." Vash stopped and stood up, glaring over at Lyrith. The group blinked in surprise, and turned their gazes over to Lyrith.

"He looks down his snout at us like we're hatchlings, like we have no idea what we're doing. Like he knows better than all of us!" Vash took another step towards Lyrith, glowering. "Do you think you Albinos are the only ones who have it hard? Other Sub-elements are abused too you know! My family hated me, ever since I was only enough to use my magic. They neglected me and showed affection only for my sister, Falwee. The other villagers wouldn't go near me, and took every opportunity to harass me. My life has been a living hell for as long as I can remember!" Vash's voice grew louder as he spoke, continuing to pace over to Lyrith, his eyes burning coldly. "Do you think those scars mean anything? There are more than just physical scars you know! What could have possibly happened to you to make you think your so above everyone here, huh! WHAT CAN POSSIBLY COMPARE TO KNOWING EVERYONE AROUND YOU HATED YOU, AND JUST WISHED YOU NEVER EXISTED!" Vash finished, roaring, now mere inches away from Lyrith, froth forming at the corners of his muzzle. The dragons around the campfire looked over at Vash pityingly.

Lyrith stared back at Vash contemptibly, his red eyes gleaming in the fire light as he locked gazes with the enraged dream dragon.

"At least you knew your parents." Lyrith growled, his voice cutting through the dead silence like a knife.

Vash jerked back as if he had been slapped, and the group around the campfire inhaled sharply. Lyrith turned away from the group, his posture stiff. The white dragon padded slowly away from the campsite, and out into the wilderness, never looking back. Everyone stared after Lyrith as he vanished, expressions distressed. Danrah glared over at Vash disapprovingly, sighing and shaking her head. Savron's gaze was focused on where Lyrith had disappeared, a look of bewildered shock on his face. Tirren's face was downcast, her eyes concerned as she stared off into the wilderness, understanding finally dawning across her features.

"Did... did he mean...?" Sleet mumbled, his eyes distraught.

"Lyr is... an orphan?" Igneous muttered, incredulously.

"That's what it sounded like..." Typhous murmured, his expression shocked and horrified.

"But then why didn't he tell us?" Savron asked, his expression puzzled. "Why would he keep something like that secret? Surely he knew we would have supported him, help him out, tried to..."

"Maybe that's why he didn't tell us, Sav." Tirren whispered, cutting Savron off off. "Maybe he **didn't** want help."

"But... but that doesn't make any sense." Savron murmured, looking over at Tirren, puzzled.

"Are you so dense, Sav!" Tirren snarled, glaring over at the purple dragon. "Ever since the moment he got here he's made an effort to prove himself equal with all of us, to show that, just because he's a white, doesn't make him any less than us. But if he had told us about his upbringing, we would have paid special care to him, helped him out, trying to make him feel better. we would have pitied him. Do you think Lyr wanted that? He's worked so hard to gain our respect, why would he pollute that by making us pity him? By making us pity him, we would have treated him as something less than us, something that needs our sympathy, and that's clearly not what he wants. He wants to be an equal, not something pitiable."

Savron flinched back at Tirren's condescending words, and then slumped. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Voltlyn sighed shakily and stood, her gaze having never left the spot where Lyrith had vanished into the undergrowth. Typhous looked over at the topaz lightning dragoness, and frowned.

"Where are you going, Voltlyn?" He murmured. Voltlyn looked back at the six horned grey dragon, and smiled weakly.

"I'll be right back." Then, she turned and strode off into the bushes, leaving the rest of the group behind. Voltlyn traced Lyrith's paw tracks through the wet, muddy earth. He had made no attempt to hide himself, and the tracks were clear in the soft, soggy earth. Voltlyn found him after a dozen minutes of walking, and stopped to watch him.

He stood on a small boulder overlooking a pond. His white scales were smeared with dirt and mud from his trek through the valley, and his paws were encrusted in grim. He stared intently down into the pond, as if looking for something that wasn't there. His expression was blank, though flickers of emotion crossed it now and again. Voltlyn stepped silently into the glade where the white dragon stood, and moved over to him. Lyrith jumped in surprise when her reflection appeared in the pool beside him, and then he relaxed, realizing who she was. Lyr turned his gaze up from the pool, and over to Voltlyn.

"Um... what were you looking at?" Voltlyn inquired, gazing down at the pool. Lyrith glanced down at his reflection, and then back up at Voltlyn, his face a mask.

"Nothing." He replied, his voice dead. Voltlyn looked over at Lyrith sternly, and then back down at the pool.

"Nothing? Really? How interesting. I wasn't aware you had an interest in **nothing**. As it happens, I enjoy a little **nothing** as well."

Lyrith snorted derisively, and shook his head, rolling his eyes. Voltlyn grinned at his reaction, and shuffled a little closer to Lyrith on the boulder.

"That's not what I meant." Lyrith sighed finally, turning back down to his reflection.

"Oh really? Then what exactly did you mean, Lyrith" Voltlyn smiled, feeling her confidence growing.

Lyrith was silent for a time, a tense, thoughtful silence that stretched across the glade.

"I'm not going to tell you about my past." Lyrith said finally, not looking over at Voltlyn.

Voltlyn started back in surprise. "I..."

"That is what you were going to ask, wasn't it?" Lyrith murmured, turning his gaze back over to Voltlyn, his eyes hard. "You were going to ask me about my past eventually, weren't you?"

Voltlyn sighed and shook her head. "I wanted to comfort you, that's all."

"Don't bother." Lyrith snorted. "I don't need comforting."

"We all do, once and a while." Voltlyn replied kindly, placing a paw on Lyrith's shoulder. Lyrith shrugged her away, and growled.

"Well I don't. I'm perfectly fine."

Voltlyn stared into Lyrith's face for a minute, her blue eyes soft.

"You're not the only one who's suffered loss too, Lyrith." She whispered finally. "When I lost my dad, my world was destroyed. I didn't know how I could go on. But mom was there for me, and she helped me through it, even if she didn't do the best job of if. Vash was probably the same when his family cast him out, but only with his sister and his new family. You don't have to go through this alone."

"I didn't lose my family, I never had one to begin with!" Lyrith snarled, whirling on Voltlyn causing her to yelp in shock. "Don't talk about things you don't understand! How could you possibly help me when you know nothing about me?"

"You helped me." Voltlyn murmured, averting her gaze. Lyrith stared at her, his furious gaze softening. The glade was silent for a long while, neither moving or speaking.

"I'm sorry." Lyrith mumbled, looking away. "I didn't think..."

"It... It's okay." Voltlyn sniffed, blinking back her tears. The topaz dragoness stood and dipped a paw into the water. She splashed the water on her face, then paused, and splashed Lyrith with the water as well.

"HEY!" Lyrith gasped as the cold water doused him.

Voltlyn snickered. "There, now we're even."

Lyrith snorted and rubbed at his face to clear it of water, accidentally rubbing grime all over himself in the process. Voltlyn giggled and turned away, pacing away from the Albino. She turned back to Lyrith just as she reached the edge of the glade, and flushed when she saw him staring after her. Lyrith smiled at her reaction, and she grinned back.

"Well... um... J... just remember, if you need any help, or just someone to talk to, I'm... I'm always willing to help out." With that, Voltlyn turned away and vanished into the underbrush. Lyrith watched her go, his expression blank. Then, he turned back to the pond, an amused smile cracking his mask.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith, Savron, Igneous, Voltlyn, Typhous, Sleet, Danrah, and Vash.

Hope you all enjoyed that cute scene with Voltlyn and Lyrith. =3

21000 hits. You guys make me feel so special. ;_;

Sorry about how long this took, but one scene just refused to be written in a timely fashion. :/ Can you guess which one? xD

Hm, I wonder what those black, bird like things are... makes me curious, because I seem to remember seeing something similar in a friend of mine's stories... Who was it again? Death? Deeth maybe? ;P

I know a bunch of you guys were wondering when the gang would finally start learning about Lyr's past. Well, here you go. :P Tirren is only half right though, there's more to it than that.

Don't forget to vote on my poll, there's still time to change the outcome. :3


	24. Burden

Chapter 24. Burden

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are, however, featured in this chapter, their names are listed below. Man, I could really use a subway sandwich right n... AHHH! No, not the probe! GAAAGGGHHHHHH!_

The orphanage was quiet in the late afternoon. The streets outside bustled with activity as workers made their way back home from work. Outside the orphanage the children played, enjoying the blistering heat of the summer night. Green trees swayed in the wind, and lush grass ruffled in waves across the orphanage playground. Inside the orphanage, two white dragons scrubbed the floor of the mess hall, hunched over as they worked at the grimy floors with scrub brushes.

Malicina worked half heartedly at her task, her eyes held away from what she was doing. Her autumn orange eyes wandered lazily about the mess hall, focusing on random objects. Tables, chairs, the water trough, all in no particular order. Her snow white scales were splotched with dirt and grim. She was well curved, and whip thin, with four, dark silver horns curling behind her head. A couple small cuts slashed across her arms and shoulders, accompanied by bluish markings blossoming under her scales.

Lyrith however worked hard, scrubbing every inch of floor he could reach. His paws were pink, rubbed raw from the hash wood of the scrubbing brush. His once emaciated frame had filled out, his ribs no longer poking though this scales. One of his red eyes was swelled shut, black and bloody, and the tip of his pink tongue poked out from the corner of his muzzle.

Lyrith slowly worked his way over to where Malicina scrubbed, barely moving from where she sat, her gaze distant.

"Malicina?" Lyrith murmured, his squeaky voice breaking the silence. "I'm sorry you got in trouble because of me..."

Malicina looked over at Lyrith, and smiled, her orange eyes twinkling. "Don't sweat it, squirt. It was worth it to teach those jerks a lesson."

"Still, thanks." Lyrith grinned, his milky white fangs flashing. Malicina beamed back, and dunked her brush into the bucket of water beside her. Malicina grimaced as her paw was splashed by the greasy water, and gagged a little as she felt something solid brush past her paw. She quickly removed the brush, and resumed scrubbing. Lyrith worked along beside her, working at a petrified patch of gravy melded to the floor.

"Ugh, how can you stand this?" Malicina groaned, feeling her stomach churning. She resisted the urge to make a mess of her own on the floor, and averted her eyes from the crusty mold on the floor. "It's absolutely revolting!"

"You get used to it after a while." Lyrith chirped, smiling as he looked over at the white dragoness. "Though it never really gets better."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." Malicina sighed, disparagingly. "And I don't think I want to either. Do you have to do this often?"

"Yeah." Lyrith mumbled, returning his eyes to the task before him. "All the time. Mother always picks on me and makes me do extra chores."

"That bitch is your mother?" Malicina asked, startled. Lyrith looked up at Malicina, and shook his head emphatically, smirking.

"No no!" Lyr said, chuckling gratefully. "She's just called that."

"Oh, good." Malicina sighed, shaking her head. "I would hate to have to call that ball of lard **my** mom."

Lyrith laughed, and his demeanor brightened considerably. They fell silent for a while, neither speaking as they worked. Finally, Lyrith coughed and looked up at Malicina, his small face creased in puzzlement.

"Malicina, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure. Give it a shot, squirt."

"Why are you here?"

Malicina froze, and didn't move.

Lyrith panicked. "Uh, well you don't have to answer, it's just that I was curious!"

Malicina sighed and smiled shakily. "It's okay. It's just I'm a little sore over it still."

"What happened?" Lyrith asked, his red eyes wide. "Did your parents..."

"They didn't die." Malicina murmured, sitting down and looking away. "Well... dad did, but that was a year back..."

Lyrith sat down beside Malicina and looked up at her. He shambled over to her and placed a paw on her shoulder, dropping the brushes. Malicina smiled, and looked down at him.

"Thanks squirt."

"No problem." Lyrith replied, smiling up at her. "So what happened? Why did your mom abandon you?"

Malicina sighed. "Mom didn't. My step dad did. He came in not long after dad died and seduced mom. She fell for him right away, and they soon became mates. We shared a mutual hatred for one another, but I guess he was the only one who could do anything about it."

Malicina stopped, and shook her head, blinking rapidly. "He convinced mom I was rotten and got her to abandon me here. My brother and sisters weren't around at the time, so they couldn't really do anything about it."

"Oh." Lyrith murmured, his gaze falling to the floor.

"They shipped me off here and left me here. I don't think they're coming back." Malicina sniffed, and rubbed at her eyes with her paw. "I bet they told Brudice and Pellep that I ran away, so they wouldn't look into the orphanages. Little sis will be heartbroken."

Lyrith patted Malicina's shoulder, comforting her as she fought back tears.

"I'm sorry for making you hurt, Malicina." Lyrith apologized, his gaze falling to the floor, shamefaced.

"It's okay, squirt." Malicina whispered hoarsely.

"Why don't you send them a letter?" Lyrith asked, blinking up at Malicina. Malicina brightened for a moment, and then her excited expression darkened.

"I don't have the money to get a letter all the way over to Pharea. And even then, it'll never make it to big bro or sis without mom's seal, or something to show it's from an official."

"Is your family important?" Lyrith asked, awed.

Malicina snorted. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Mom's Baroness Ureesa, a minor noble. Brudice is her heir, and Pellep is a big merchant. Dad was a common guard for the family, but they fell for each other and became mates. Mom was disappointed when she laid me, but dad convinced her to keep me." Malicina smiled. "I miss him so much. Brudice too. He always defended me against the other snot nosed brats of the other nobles... And Pellep always made me feel nice about myself, taking me out and buying me stuff. Telling me I was pretty and all that."

Lyrith sighed and hugged Malicina's leg. Malicina sniffed and blinked away the tears shining in her eyes, and looked down at Lyrith.

"Alright, I told you all about me. How about you tell me how you got here, huh squirt?"

Lyrith smiled sadly and nodded. "Well, I've always lived here."

Malicina frowned. "Always?"

"Yep. I don't know who my parents are. They left me here as an egg."

Malicina's expression dampened, and she stared down at Lyrith distressed.

"Was... Was it always this horrible?"

Lyrith nodded somberly. "I suppose so."

Malicina gazed at Lyrith for a moment, and then wrestled him into a hug. Lyrith blinked in surprise, and then hugged Malicina back, pressing his face against her chest.

"Well I'll make sure it only gets better from here." Malicina promised. "You won't have to go through it all alone anymore."

A loud cough startled to two from their embrace, and they hurriedly separated, and turned to look a the newcomer. A large fire dragon staff member stared down at the two sourly, his eye ridges raised in mocking amusement.

"If you two are finished your chores, you'd be interested to know that a family is here to adopt. Go to the hatchery and join the lineup." The red dragon whirled on his paws and disappeared quickly from the mess hall. Lyrith looked over at Malicina, and quickly stood up. The two Albinos moved out into the lobby, and turned left into the hatchery. A long line of orphans stood, coloured everywhere from red, to yellow, to black. Lyrith and Malicina joined the line, just behind a cool blue ice dragoness, and waited.

Lyrith gulped nervously, and glanced back behind at Malicina. Malicina noticed this, and frowned.

"Why are you so anxious, Lyrith? Shouldn't you be excited that you might get adopted?"

"Well... Sort of I guess." Lyrith squeaked, shaking his head. "But... I guess I'm just worried that you'll be taken and not me. I... I don't want to be left alone..." Lyrith stared abashedly at the floor. Malicina smirked.

"Don't worry, squirt." Malicina whispered, grinning. "If they do decide to take me, I'll make sure they take you along with me."

Lyrith smiled gratefully up at Malicina. "Same here."

Everyone jerked to attention as the door creaked open, and stood, backs straight as the Mother entered. Behind her, an older couple of dragons entered. They were both grey wind dragons, slim yet powerfully built. The male of the pair's head was crowned with eight horns, all four pairs arching back from his head. His bright, green eyes scanned the line of orphans critically. The female was slightly larger in build, and had four horns to her mate's eight. Her eyes were oddly colored, one being blue, and the other a clashing yellow.

The Mother moved the two to the start of the line, and led the first of the orphans, a nearly adult fire dragon away into a separate room. After a few minutes the fire drake left the room, and took his place back in the line. The flabby mother gestured to the next dragon, and led him into the room.

Lyrith fidgeted anxiously as each dragon in turn was taken into the room, sometimes spending as much as half an hour with each dragon. Malicina stood beside Lyrith proudly, her head held high and chin raised pointedly up into the air.

Finally, after nearly two hours of waiting the adopters finished speaking with Jaheel, and the mother called Malicina forward. Malicina stepped forward, and then glanced back, smiling.

"Come on, I'm not going alone."

Lyrith smiled to her gratefully, and followed Malicina to the room. The mother raised an eye ridge as the pair entered, but decided not to say anything. Lyrith gulped nervously as he looked up at the two wind dragons. He hesitated for a second, and then opened his muzzle to greet the two.

"Next." The female of the pair grunted, turning her eyes away from the two Albinos. The male huffed, and looked away as they settled down on their seats not even sparing the pair a second glance.

Lyrith's heart plummeted out of his chest, and he slumped, closing his eyes tightly as he felt them ache. Malicina sighed and shook her head, as the Mother hastened them out from the room, and back into the line.

"Why so glum?" The white dragoness asked, with a forced smile, glancing down at the little Albino. Lyrith returned the smile, his red eyes sad.

"I guess I'm just a little disappointed that they didn't even talk with us. I've been waiting as long as I can remember for someone just to give me a chance."

"Well they don't know what they're missing out on." Malicina said, pulling Lyrith a little closer to her. "Someday, someone will see what an amazing dragon you are, Lyrith, and those dragons will be the happiest parents alive."

Lyrith smiled up at Malicina, and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his paw.

"Until then, we'll just have to stick together." Malicina continued, smiling. Lyrith nodded, grinning.

"Jaheel, step forward." The Mother called, and the plump, grey dragon stepped out of the line and towards the Mother and the pair of wind dragons excitedly.

Lyrith frowned as the wind dragons smiled at Jaheel, and he grinned back smugly. The Mother ushered the trio off to her office, and then glanced behind at the remaining orphans.

"All of you are dismissed. Return to your quarters, it's lights out in ten minutes."

The remaining orphans got to their paws and moved off, out of the hatchery and up the stairs to the rooms. Malicina and Lyrith fought their way through the crammed halls to their room. The inside was pilled high with half a dozen beds of pillows. Three of these stacks were occupied, two red dragonesses chatted with each other, while a lithe earth dragon lay on his side, his back turned to the other occupants of the room. Malicina sighed as she lay down upon her bed of cushions, shifting uncomfortably on the stiff pillows. Lyrith lay down on his bed on the other side of the room, and curled up into a ball, sniffing.

A few minutes later, a gruff mole maid came bustling into the room and sternly looked around the room. The orphans obediently fell silent, and the maid hurriedly put out the candles lighting the room.

Lyrith mumbled and twisted around on his cushions, as the moon steadily rose, its moonlight shining through the small window in the wall of the room. He tossed and turned in his bed, trying to sleep as the moon arched through the night sky. Finally he sighed and rose, slinking over to where Malicina lay.

"Malicina?" Lyrith whispered, peering into the white dragoness's face.

"What?" Malicina groaned, blinking and looking up at the white dragonling.

"I can't sleep." Lyrith whispered shamefully, turning his gaze to the floor. Malicina sighed, rolling her eyes and scooted over on her bed. Lyrith beamed and climbed up into the cushions, and curled up against Malicina's belly. Malicina smiled as the tiny dragon pressed up against her, and draped her wing over the small Albino. She lay her head back down, and closed her eyes, beginning to doze off once more.

"Malicina?"

"Yeah squirt?" Malicina murmured, not opening her eyes.

"When I grow up I want to be just like you."

Malicina's eyes snapped open in shock, and she raised her head, glancing down at the young white dragon.

"Wha?! No no. You should try and model yourself after someone better. Like Spyro, Ignitus or one of the Guardians. They're heroes, you should try and be like them." Malicina murmured, staring down at Lyrith. Lyrith buried his head into the fold of Malicina's wing, and shook his head.

"No. You."

Malicina felt a warmth spread up through her chest and into her limbs. She shook faintly, her eyes moist as she looked down at the dragonling cuddled up to her, a smile dawning across her muzzle.

"Whatever you say, squirt." Malicina sighed, laying her head back down on the cushions. Lyrith gave a squeaky grunt, and shifted in his position, pressing up more against Malicina's chest. They lay there for a while, watching the silver moons rise higher into the sky.

"Hey squirt, wanna hear a story?" Malicina whispered, glancing over to Lyrith, who lay dozily beside her. Lyrith nodded, yawning, and Malicina cleared her throat.

"Once upon a time, there was an old, earth dragon carpenter, who lived out in a small town in the middle of the wilderness. He was cranky and rude, and nobody wanted to hire him, after he injured his leg in a bad fall, while shingling a roof..."

* * *

The sun blazed over the Temple in the late noon sky. The Dragon Temple buzzed with activity as the students left the kitchens and headed for their afternoon classes. The blackened dirt of the gardens had been freshly tilled, revealing fresh soil. Gardeners from the town worked the land, planting saplings, grass seeds and flowers into the earth.

Volteer sat by a window overlooking the activity below, his yellow eyes weary and his shoulders slumped in exahustion. The Guardian of Lightning sighed and shook his head as he watched the workers prying the last of the charred stumps out of the ground. Several students passed him by, and nodded to the old dragon. Volteer smiled and nodded back, but said nothing.

"You're looking down, Volteer."

Volteer turned to look at the speaker, blinking slowly.

"Ah, Darius. It's good to see you. Howareyou?"

"Rather slugish today, as it happens." Darius yawned, resting on his haunches beside the yellow dragon. "Dealing with all of these classes is such a burden."

"Indeed." Volteer murmured. "I'm starting to see why Inferna liked to take leave so often. There's so much to be done, and so little time to do it."

"More work than any two dragons could handle, hero or no." Darius chuckled, shaking his head. Volteer snorted and sat up. Darius followed, stretching out his slim, light brown body.

"It's time I checked up on Zindy." Volteer sighed, smiling.

"Mind if I come along?" Darius asked. "I don't have any classes to teach at the moment, and I would like to see her."

Volteer nodded and turned down the corridor, leading to the infirmiry.

"How is Zindy doing, by the way?" Darius murmured, pacing beside the bright yellow drake.

"She's recovering at an exponential rate." Volteer smiled. "She's already making attempts to resume walking."

"She's an amazing dragoness." Darius grinned. The two dragons turned a corner, stopped as a crowd of students rushed down the hall, and then continued on their way.

"Tempest is furious with me." Volteer sighed after a long moment of silence. "He wants to take Zindy away from the Temple and bring her back home."

"Your son is an ungrateful dragon, who holds as many grudges as Cadence has chins." Darius smirked. "His name matches his temper perfectly, if you'll forgive me for saying so."

Volteer chuckled and smiled fondly over at the sand dragon, sidestepping a servant carrying several trays of dishes. "It's quite alright. Though if I were you, I would refrain from speaking such things aloud."

"Cadence is right behind me, isn't he?" Darius gulped, his back suddenly stiffening.

Volteer smirked and shook his head. "Thankfully not."

"Thank the ancestors!" Darius sighed, smiling. "I feared I would be verbally lashed to death!"

"Indeed." Volteer snickered, then his humour evaporated. "Though I'm afraid he's correct. I'm not deserving to be Zindy's protector. I try so hard, but things always go so horribly, unspeakably wrong."

"It's not your fault." Darius said comfortingly, as they turned into the hall that lead to the infirmiry. "You couldn't have known somehting like this would have happened. You couldn't have gotten to her in time, neither of them. Blaming yourself won't change things, and letting others blame you will only make things worse."

Volteer sighed and opened the infirmiry door. "I suppose you're right, Darius. It's just so hard."

The two dragons slipped into the clinic, and quietly closed the door behind them. The clean, white walls shone brightly in the bright glow of the sunglobes. Small, straight cots were aligned neatly in rows along the wall, their bedsheets crisp and freshly washed. The soft whisper of voices reached across the room, bringing with it the breath of laughter. Volteer smiled, and moved cautiously through the cots, picking his way towards the other side of the room.

"Andthenhesaid, 'Wedon'tneedanyink! I'vegottheturniprighthere!" Zindy giggled, holding her sides and laughing at the memory. She lay stretched on a large, cushioned cot, wings spread out as she lay on her back. The bandages that had covered her upper torso had been removed, revealing the jagged scar on her belly, black with dried blood. A young adult water dragon stood beside her bed, washing the old bandages, and getting out a new set to bind around Zindy.

The aqua blue dragon smiled at the energetic lightning dragon, and shook his coral horned head.

"Man, you have a very, like, interesting family. I'm totally jealous."

"YouhavenoIdea!" Zindy exclaimed, shuffling into a more comfortable position on her bed. "Youshouldhaveseenthetimewhen ... Oh! Hey Grandpa!"

"Howareyoudoing, Zindy?" Volteer questioned, coming to a stop beside the bed.

"Verygood, Grandpa!" Zindy chirped, her eyes shut in a broad smile. "Wavlo here is really nice! He talks to me about all sorts of things."

Volteer turned his gaze upon the water dragon healer, who bowed, smiling.

"Thankyou, Wavlo, forkeepingmygranddaughtercom pany."

"Like, it's no problem, Master Volteer." Wavlo said, his long, finned tail flicking to and fro. "Zindy here is absolutely awesome to talk to."

Darius sat down beside Volteer, and grinned. "I see you're a full healer now, Wavlo. Aquina's training must have really done its job."

The blue dragon shrugged, and rolled his eyes. "Mom was a good teacher, but she's like, really harsh. Make one tiny mistake and she's all over you. It's 'Oh you forgot to disinfect the bandages, you just killed a patient!' Or 'You didn't set the splint straight, you just crippled your patient for life!' It like, really makes you anxious."

"Well it does help keep you from getting lazy." Volteer said, an amused smile cracking across his muzzle. Wavlo sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess it does, doesn't it?"

"HeyDarius! How'reyoudoing?" Zindy inquired, her small body fidgeting anxiously as she gazed up at the sand dragon.

"Absolutely wonderful." Darius retorted, grinning. "Though all this work is really tuckering me out. I could use a good sleep."

"Iknowwhatyoumean!" Zindy exclaimed, raising her head and looking up at Darius wide eyed. "Sometimes, whenI'moutIgetreallytired. I'mrunningandrunningandrunning andrunning, then suddenlypoof! I'm asleep!

"Yeah, it's like that." Darius replied, nodding.

"Speakingofrunning, canIgetupnow? I'm really really tired of just sitting here, and I need to stretch my legs."

Volteer looked from Zindy, to Darius, to Wavlo, his expression grave. Wavlo looked over at Volteer and smiled wanly.

"Well, it would be good for her to like, stretch her legs."

"Is she ready for it though?" Volteer murmured, concerned.

"I'mreadyI'mreadyI'mready!" Zindy cried, all but flailing on the bed in desperation. Wavlo nodded slowly.

"It should be okay if she stands, but walking is likely still beyond her at this point."

"IpromiseIwon'tdoanythingmore thanafewsteps!" Zindy cried, her face scrunched up in a tight pout. "Please!"

"Alright, just be careful." Volteer sighed, smiling as Zindy yelped with joy. Wavlo carefully bound the bandages back around Zindy's torso, and then cautiously helped her up, careful to keep the small lightning dragoness from straining herself too much.

Zindy stood shakily on the ground beside her cot, her small frame shivering with both her boundless energy, and the difficulty at keeping herself standing. She took a few, shallow breaths, and raised a paw. Volteer almost jumped up in shock as she took a limping step, nearly toppling over from the exertion.

"Woah now, easy!" Wavlo murmured, moving over to support Zindy. Zindy sighed.

"It's going to be a long time before I'm able to run again, isn't it, Grandpa?"

Volteer choked, his cheerful expression nearly breaking. "Yeah, a long time, Zindy."

Zindy nodded sadly, and limped back over to the cot, where Wavlo helped her lay back down.

"Do you know where Sav is?" Zindy asked once she was settled, her expression anxious. "I haven't seen him since he visited here last..."

"We don't know, Zindy." Volteer murmured, looking away shamefaced. "We've searched the entire Temple from top to bottom and we've found nothing."

"Oh." Zindy whispered, her expression falling.

"We think he's gone after his parents." Darius sighed, shaking his head. "He was distraught when they wouldn't let him go with them."

"It's... It's all my fault..." Zindy sniffed, tears welling up in her electric blue eyes. "Sav... Sav blames himself because I was hurt... If... If I hadn't been injured he wouldn't have..."

"Don't say that Zindy!" Wavlo said, distressed. "It wasn't your fault that you were hurt! No more than it was your fault that Savron left the Temple."

"But..." The small lightning dragoness whimpered. Volteer moved forward and embraced Zindy gently.

"Shh, Zindy, shh. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that pantheress was there, you couldn't have reacted in time. Always remember that."

Zindy snuffled, blinking away her tears, and buried her face into Volteer's shoulder.

"Thanks Grandpa. You always know what to say."

Volteer smiled, his eyes red from the tears he held back.

"Daddy wants me to come home, doesn't he?" Zindy asked, her voice muffled beneath Volteer shoulder. Volteer nodded, breaking the hug.

"He does. But you don't have to go if you don't want to. You're a big dragoness now."

Zindy smiled, wiping at her eyes with a paw. "Okay." She whispered, hoarsly.

Darius watched the exchange with a sad smile, his eyes twinkling. A sudden slam of the infimiry door startled the four dragons, and they all turned to face the newcomers.

"Oops! Sorry!" Aiel yelped, standing stalk still, looking between the door and the occupents of the infirmiry. The white dragon stood on his hind legs and carried a bundle of sheets in his paws. "I uh... I got the fresh sheets you wanted."

"Excellent." Wavlo murmured, moving over to the two. "Though be careful about the door next time, the injured here are trying to sleep, and slamming door is not helping them."

Aiel glanced down shamefaced as he passed the sheets over to the water dragon.

"I have your medicine as well, master Wavlo." Twar grunted, stepping into the room from behind Aiel.

"Put it over on that empty cot." Wavlo grunted, nodding towards the nearest bed. "It's best if I put it away myself."

Twar nodded his understanding, his face blank. He then placed the box of medicine on the bed and sat down.

"Hello Master Volteer." Aiel bowed, approaching the bed where Zindy lay. "Master Darius, lady Zindy."

"HeyAiel! How'veyoubeen?" Zindy chirped, a genuine smile creasing her muzzle.

Aiel returned the smile. "I'm doing great, thank you."

"How is your injury?" Volteer inquired, a soft smile of crossing his features as Aiel straightened up, beaming. The white dragon glanced down at the bandage wrapped around his leg.

"It's good, thank you Master. The break is all but gone."

"Excellent, that's absolutely splendid to hear." Volteer grinned. "It's only a matter of time before all returns to normal!"

"Yes, Master Volteer." Aiel grinned, nodding.

"Well we must be off, Master Volteer." Twar murmured, nodding towards the Guardian. "Ember has urgent need of us."

"Alright then you two, I'll see you tonight for some more music lessons." Volteer said, smiling.

The two Albinos bowed their thanks, and left quickly. Aiel glanced back once pityingly to Zindy, but Twar refused to look at the small dragoness.

Aiel and Twar rushed down the halls, turning through the twisting corridors as they headed towards their assignment. Neither spoke as they entered the kitchen, and moved up to Ember. To their surprise they found that the chores had already been finished, and that Ember had no need of them.

"Go off and have a break." The pink dragoness muttered bruskly, her eyes distant. "You've been working hard all week, and you should get some time off."

"Thanks, lady Ember!" Aiel chirped excitedly. He grinned over to his twin as they left, his fangs flashing brightly. "Alright! Today's our lucky day! Lessons with Master Volteer, and a break! This day just can't get any better!"

"Don't say things like that, you'll jinx it." Twar sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Twar? Why are you so down?" Aiel asked, stopping and turning to face his brother, his pink eyes puzzled. "Ever since the attack you just haven't been yourself. And you hardly ever smile anymore. What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Twar grumbled, stepping passed his brother and into the great hall. Aiel frowned and followed after him.

"Don't give me that! You used to be so much more upbeat! What happened?"

"Why does it matter?" Twar muttered as they exited out into the charred gardens, and moved across to the wall surrounding the Temple.

"It matters because I'm your brother, and we haven't had real time together for ages!" Aiel grunted, padding behind Twar as the white dragon climbed up the stairs that lead up the wall. Twar snorted in response, and picked up his pace. He reached the top of the stairs, and moved over to the battlements. Aiel came to a stop beside him, and together they looked out across the plains.

Neither spoke for a time, each waiting for the other to speak. Finall, Twar sighed, and looked over at Aiel.

"I guess it's because I feel like nobody likes me." Twar said, glancing over to his twin.

"Why would you feel like that?" Aiel asked, raising an eye ridge at the response.

"Because nobody pays any attention to me." Twar sighed, turning away and looking over into the distance. "It's like I'm invisible. People bump into me all the time, and nobody talks with me when I'm around, even when I'm part of the conversation nobody really seems to notice me."

"Oh come on, you know that's not true!" Aiel cried, placing a paw comfortingly on Twar's shoulder. "Volteer loves your singing voice, and you must be the best servant in the whole Temple. Everybody trusts you with all kinds of important tasks!"

"But..." Twar mumbled, shaking his head. "But it just seems like people don't like me as a dragon. They don't respect me."

Aiel remained silent for a while, his pale pink eyes gazing into the middle distance. Then, he grinned and jostled Twar enthusiastically.

"Well then try harder to get people's attention, like Lyrith did. He didn't reserve himself and hope that someone would see his true potential, he went out and showed everyone what he could do!"

Twar sighed, and then nodded. "I... I guess you're right. Maybe I shouldn't be wallowing in mediocrity. Maybe I should actually try for once." Twar smiled. "Thanks bro, you really know what to say, don't you?"

"I try my best." Aiel admitted, a sly grin creasing his features. "So, how about we go get something to eat, I'm starving."

Twar nodded, grinning. "Sure, give me a bit. You go on ahead."

"Alright, see you down at Venison Heaven." Aiel said, as he dashed down the stairs. "Want me to order your usual for you?"

"Yeah, sure!" Twar replied as Aiel reached the Temple gates. "With some extra peppercorn sauce too, please!"

"Gotit!" Aiel shouted as he vanished.

Twar stood still for a long moment, his smile growing taught and strained as he stared, unseeing. The wind blew around him, bringing with it the acrid smell of charred earth and ash. Twar let out the breath he had been holding in a rush, and closed his eyes tiredly. Then, he turned and stood up on his rear paws, placing his forepaws on the cool stone of the battlments. He peered over the rim, looking down at the swaying forest of mushroom caps below.

The white dragon sighed again, and slipped a paw into the small sack that hung across his flank. From it, he pulled out a small, crystal shard. It's violet radience cascaded colour across Twar's scales, tinting them a faint indigo. Twar's eyes went distant as he stared into the crystal, lost in memory.

_"A trade perhaps? Something for something? We did save your life after all."_

_"Wh... Why should I trust you? Y... You aren't n...n..."_

_"Normal? No, we're not. I'm surprised you can sense the taint. You have a very sensitive soul, Albino."_

_"I... I don't know what you're talking about."_

_"It matters not, but it does mean that my trade will be that much more valuble to you. So here is my proposal, you will tell Savron, that's his name I believe? The young purple? Anyway, you will tell him that his parents are in grave danger. Dellberrie is a set up to trap and kill them."_

_"Is it...?"_

_"Be shilent, worm! Do not interuptsh!"_

_"S... Sorry."_

_"Now now, Travix, don't frighten the boy any more than you have to. Yes, it is, though the nature of which is unknown to us at this time. However, Spyro and Cynder must not know of this until after they have left. Spies are planted all over this Temple, and they will be alerted if they are informed. If that is done, they will take more direct action, and their chances of survival will be slim to none."_

_"S... So telling Savron will..."_

_"Will be considerablly safer. The spies will leave the Temple once the army has started to move. That's your best time to tell him. Savron is probably the best hope of getting this information directly to them."_

_"O... Okay."_

_"And in return for this service, we'll give you this."_

_"W... What is it?"_

_"A very special gem, a fragment of crystal from my staff. It grants the one who absorbes it enhanced magical abilities. Theoretically, it should allow an Albino to use spirit energy, just like a normal dragon. Essentially you wouldn't be an Albino any longer."_

_"Really!?"_

_"Yes, though it may not be much."_

_"Incredible..."_

_"So, do we have a deal?"_

_"I... I guess so."_

_"Excellent! The battle here should be over soon. Once it is, go do whatever you have to. Now, remember to tell Savron about the trap, and only after the Guarians have left."_

_"Yeah... Okay."_

_"Here's the crystal, use it as you see fit."_

_"Th... Thanks... for saving my life."_

_"It was no problem, little Albino. No problem at all."_

Twar shook himself free from the trance, and tore his gaze away from the crystal. It pulsed in his paw invitingly, throbing like a distant heartbeat.

"No." Twar hissed, squeezing his eyes shut as he clenched his paw. "No. I don't need this. It wasn't worth the price I paid for it. I don't deserve to be any more than an Albino." Twar inhaled slowly, and then exhaled shakily, his entire body quivering. "I sent the few who were kind to me off on a stupid quest based on the word of a stranger. I'm an idiot."

Twar opened his eyes, and looked longingly down at the crystal. Then, he swallowed, and tossed the crystal up into the air. It rose up into the air, glittering in the sun, and then twinkiling, it fell. Twar batted it as hard as he could with his tail. It spun dizzyingly out over the wall, and into the empty air above the mushroom forest. It fell, sparkling into the dark swamp below, vanishing among the caps and ferns.

Twar let out an explosive sigh, and looked away from the wall, tears beading his eyes. After a moment, he smiled, and wiped the tears away, shaking his head.

"Alright, let's go see if Aiel ordered me my usual. Knowing him he's set me up with something new and gross." Twar dashed down the steps of the wall, and out of the Temple gates. He took off into the evening air, and glided down towards town, his stomach growling the entire way.

* * *

Ember sighed and unplugged the tub of water, letting the suddsy fluid drain away. The pink dragoness pulled out the last remaining dry towel, and wrestled Cirial out of the draining water, into it. The little pink dragonling squealed as she was brusquly dried, wriggling and giggling as her mother tickled her playfully. Ember smiled down at her daughter, and then plopped her back down on the floor, fresh and clean after a day of playing in the mud.

"There you go, dear, all better."

"Aw, but I wantwed to pway in dah water some mowre!" Cirial pouted, sitting down on the mat, looking back mournfully at the empty bath tub.

"But just an hour ago you didn't want to go in at all." Ember muttered, rolling her eyes, all the while smiling as the little dragoness pawed the ground, looking up at her mother with big cow-eyes. Cirial cocked her head, puzzled.

"No I didn't."

Ember sighed and shook her head. "Well, how about we go to the grand hall and play some hide and go seek, does that sound fun?"

Cirial brightened instantly. "Yep!" The rosey pink dragoness chirped, hopping from one paw to another.

"Alright then, give me a moment to get cleaned up, and then we'll go play, Cirial."

Cirial nodded, her muzzle hanging open happily. Then she pranced out of the room, her tail swaying back and forth cheerfully. Ember watched her go, her expression slowly falling. Sighing, Ember mopped up the bathing room, and then exited out into her living quarters. She glanced around at the neat room, the dinning table, mattress couches, and book shelves, taking everything in. Her eyes fell upon the door leading to Igneous's room. Ember froze, and then stepped towards it, stopping herself as she made to knock. Swallowing, Ember twisted the door open and peered inside. Her eyes flew to the bed, and Ember felt her heart sink upon seeing it empty.

Ember sighed, and turned away, closing the door behind her, and then padded over to the door where Cirial waited eagerly. The little dragoness glanced between her mother, and Igneous's room, her face falling.

"Mommy, when's Iggy comwing home?" Cirial whimpered, looking back up to her mother.

"Soon Cirial, soon." Ember murmured, forcing a smile onto her face. "Now lets go, we have a day of playing to catch up on."

Cirial brighted, and dashed out of the room, shooting out into the hallway, bouncing about excitedly. Ember smiled, her strained expression softening, and glidded out after her daughter, closing the door softly behind her.

The pair skipped through the halls, laughing. The few students and servants moving through the corridor smiled at the pairs' anticts, amused at the cheerfull little dragoness's yips and giggles. Ember and Cirial arrived in the grand hall after several minutes, and they came to a stop.

"Alright... now you count to one hundred... and I'll hide." Ember panted, slightly winded as she turned to face her daughter. Cirial nodded, her tongue lolling out excitedly, and turned to one of the walls, shutting her eyes tight.

"One... Twwo... Ffree... Four..."

Ember grinned, and turned away, tip-pawing away into one of the halls. The pink dragoness hid behind a pillar, her large pink body clearly visible to any onlooker.

"Nintwy sfix... Nintwy seffen... Nintwy eighwt... Nintwy nine... ONE HUNDWED!" Cirial cried, turning around and looking around the hall. "WEADY OWR NOT HEAR I CWOME!"

Ember chuckled as Cirial raced around the room, stumbling occasionally as she nearly tripped over her own paws. The little pink dragoness checked behind every pillar, and behind every tapestry she came across, until her eyes fell on Ember's pink tail swishing back and forth from behind her hiding spot.

"Found you!" Cirial cried, pouncing on Ember's tail, giggling.

"Drat! How did you find me?" Ember laughed, swaying her tail playfully so Cirial swung through the air, laughing.

"Youwr turwn!" Cirial laughed, letting go, and tumbling to the ground, squealing in laughter, her overlarge paw flailing. Ember laughed along with her, and turned away, shuting her eyes tightly.

"Alright. One... two... three..."

Cirial glanced around, searching for somewhere to hide, and then giggled, racing off down a different hall, stumbling out of sight.

"Ninty Nine! One hundred!" Ember finished, opening her eyes and looking around. "Ready or not, here I come!" Ember slowly padded down the halls, her eyes scanning the coloums and statues, searching for lumps in the tapestries and shadows behind doors. So distracted was Ember, that she did not notice Dyama nervously padding down the halls until they bumped into each other.

"Oops!" The plump lightning dragoness gasped, staggering back. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going miss Ember!"

"Oh it's okay." Ember smiled, shaking her head. "Neither was I." Ember glanced around, and then grinned. "Say, have you seen Cirial?" Ember asked sneakilly.

Dyama cocked her head. "Yeah, she's over that way a couple corridors, behind a suit of armour. Why? Is she in trouble?"

"Oh no, we're just playing." Ember giggled. "Come on, we're partners in crime now, you can help me find her!"

Dyama smiled, and followed after the pink dragoness her eyes sad. Ember followed the path Dyama directed her down, and kept a look out for Cirial. After a minute of searching, Ember heard a small giggle, and she glanced back at Dyama. The lightning dragoness got the hint, and moved out of sight, grinning as Ember started searching everywhere, except behind the suit of armour where Cirial hid.

"Is she here?" Ember asked herself, pulling away a tapestry. "No? Hm... I wonder where she could be?"

Cirial snickered. Ember glanced around at the sound, and sneaked around and glanced behind a pillar.

"Found you!" Ember cried, and then pouted. "Hm... I was sure she'd be here..."

Cirial stiffled her laughter, her small pink body shaking. Ember cocked her head, and finally turned to where Cirial was hiding.

"What was that?" Ember asked herself, smirking. "Was that laughter?"

Cirial's laughter stopped, silencing herself as she realized she had given herself away. Ember padded slowly to the suit of armour, and then swooped around, scooping Cirial up in a paw and flinging her into the air, catching her as she fell with a wing. Cirial squeeled in delight, laughing.

"Got you!" Ember laughed, tickling the dragonling as she held her in the cup of her wing. Cirial wriggled herself free from Ember's hold, and landed, quickly rolling to her paws, sides heaving with mirth. Dyama giggled, and Cirial looked up, seeing her. A little frown crossed her face, and she looked up at Ember.

"Mowmmy! You cheated, didwen't you!?" Cirial pouted. Ember gasped.

"How did you know?"

Cirial grumbled.

"How about you hide again, and this time I promise I won't cheat,** and** I'll count to two hundred. How does that sound?"

"Okay." Cirial chirped, smiling. Ember turned away, and started counting again, and Cirial took off, vanishing. Once Ember was sure Cirial was out of ear shot, she stopped, and looked over at Dyama, grinning.

"She's so adorable, isn't she?" Ember sighed, plopping down on her haunches. Dyama nodded.

"That she is. She reminds me of Voltlyn when she was young. We used to play the same kinds of games." Dyama sighed, her expression turning mournful.

"It's not your fault, you know." Ember said, guessing at what Dyama was thinking of. "Anyone could make that mistake. And, from what I understand, you had been recovering when it happened."

"It is my fault." Dyama mumbled, shifing her paws. "If I had just realized what I was doing, to myself and my family, I would have stopped."

"Addictions are hard to break, and even harder to control." Ember stated, putting a paw on Dyama's shoulder.

"Have you ever been so obsessed with something that you can't even think of anything else?" Dyama asked, shaking her head. "It's like a nightmare, only you don't want to wake from it."

"Well, I've never had it that bad, but I did have something similar." Ember murmured, his muzzle forming into an expression of consideration.

"You did?" Dyama asked, startled. "I never thought that you..."

"I wan't the cleanest youth in my village, that's for sure." Ember interuppted, sticking her tongue out at Dyama. "And don't let all those glossy tales of heroes fool you, we're just as sinful as everyone else. I had used to burn herbs to calm myself when I was young, it cleared the mind and dulled the senses. It gave you a little tinly feeling that was fairly pleasant, and helped me concentrate. I got over it after a while, but even now I sometimes crave that sensation again, just a little."

Dyama stared at Ember in silence for a moment, startled. The pink dragoness turned to the lightning dragoness maid, and smiled.

"Everyone makes stupid choices, and I'm no exception."

Dyama looked away, her expression thankful. "Thank you, lady Ember." She murmured.

"No problem." Ember smiled. Dyama looked back to her, and smiled. Then her expression faded. Ember's smile faded along with Dyama's.

"You miss her, don't you?" The pink dragoness asked.

"Yes." Dyama whispered, her head bowed. "Almost the moment I get here, she leaves, leaving only a note. I just... I just feel so useless..."

Ember stepped up beside the stricken dragoness, draping a wing over her back comfortingly.

"Don't worry, as long as she's with Iggy and Sav, she'll be safe. Savron may be a bit of a buffoon, but together they can handel pretty much anything that comes there way."

Dyama swallowed, and forced out a smile. "Is it really okay to be saying things about Lady Cynder's son like that?"

Ember laughed, shaking her head. "Oh that's nothing. You should hear what Cynder says about him when he's done something stupid. It makes the scales on the back of your neck rise a little." Then Ember raised her head, and shouted. "Two hundred! Ready or not, here I come!"

Ember turned and winked to Dyama, the lightning dragoness smiled, and the two started down the hall, Ember searching every nock and cranny for Cirial, while Dyama watched, a genuine smile crossing her concerned expression.

_"When you get back, I'll be a better mom, I promise."_

* * *

The thunderous thumping of wingbeats split the dry, warm air of the plains as hundreds of dragons soared through the sky. Below, a vast swath of forms marched through the grass, stomping great trails through the waving green strands. Caravans lumbered on behind the army as it marched, trailing behind like a long snaking tail. Ahead of them, a wall of trees stretched above the plains, limbs spreading up and above into the sky.

The sun sank in the distance, half behind the sea of leaves and branches, half behind the flat horizon of the plains. The sky was stained a bloody red, and Inferna shivered as an ominous feeling to hold.

"Are you okay, Infera?" Deran murmured, gliding up beside her as they swept through the sky towards the jungle ahead.

Inferna shook her head. "Yeah... I just got a chill, that's all."

Deran glanced over at Inferna, concerned, and then nodded. "If you say so."

"We're landing!" A loud, sharp voice cracked through the air. "We're almost at our destination. We land and set up camp!"

Inferna sighed. "About bloody time. I thought we would never stop for the night!"

Deran grunted in agreement, and started his descent along with all the other dragons. They landed, bone weary from their long day of flight, and the Forge Master and the Guardian of Flames immediately made their way over to the large pavilion being set up in the center of the army. The soldiers swarmed around the two dragons as they moved to set up camp. Moles, Cheetahs, Canines and dragons chatted as they set up camp, complaining about the work and bad rations in a gruff, friendly manner. The pavilion was a large tent that reached high enough for two dragons, one standing on the other's back, to enter with comfortable space above. The thick canvas material reflected the rays of the setting sun, dying it a faint orange hue.

In front of the tent, a small group sat, chatting. Spyro, Terrador and Cynder spoke amiably with the five kings, who rested, waiting for their pavilion to be erected for them.

"... We'll arrive at our first objective tomorrow, sometime before sunset. Hopefully, conflict won't be necassary, and we can move on to Grasbronda with no loss of lives." Pyron murmured, gesturing at the map lain on the ground before them.

"But you don't believe this is going to be the case." Cynder said, examing the map carefully, and then looking up at the kings.

"No, it almost assuredly won't." Prowlus grunted, shaking his head. "Most likely they will be hostile towards us. Such a large force entering their territory will threaten them, and they **will** react accordingly."

"And if they do?" Inferna interposed, stepping up beside her compatriots. Pyron looked over at Inferna, his expression grim.

"Then we will react with equal measures of violence, and try to overcome Dellberrie as quickly as possible."

"It is unfortunate it has come to this." Terrador rumbled, sifting on his haunches. "There has not been conflict such as this since the Second Resurrection, and that it is against a nation of our own kind is a tragedy beyond measure."

"Aye, but war must be waged." Diatrax, the one eyed wolf king muttered, his fangs bared in a grimace. "The well being of our people, and our kingdom's pride hangs in the balance."

"We will still do our best to kill as few as possible." Albiard grumbled, stroking the pommel of his hammer. "Despite the blood spilt, we must attempt to bring this war to a swift, and hopefully peaceful end."

"Which is why we make our headway straight to Grasbronda." Pyron interjected, glancing around at the others. "We will find the one responsible, and it will be they who suffer the full brunt of our wrath."

Inferna nodded, satisfied. "That is all anyone can ask. Hopefully, Kaisar was not the one responsible, he was a kind, just king."

"Indeed." Pyron sighed, taking a swig of water from a bowl off to his side. "It would be a shame if we ended up having to take his life to end this foolish war."

"Now if you don't mind," Prowlus grunted, getting to his feet and stretching. "we have to unpack out belongings. You should go do the same."

The Guardians, Spyro and Deran nodded. They all turned away and headed off to a small cleared spot where their tents would be pitched. There they found Cyril organizing the squads of soldiers setting up the tents.

"No no no! You don't throw up the canvas that way! It'll be all lopsided and droopy! You have to stretch it tighter! Ancestors this is going to take forever!"

"And yet you don't see him jumping in to show them how it's done." Inferna snickered in Deran's earfrill as they approached the Guardian of Frost. Deran chuckled in response.

"Nope, you really don't."

"Ah, It's good to see you have everything under control, Cyril." Cynder grinned as they came to a stop beside the icy blue dragon. Cyril glanced over at them, and sighed.

"Hardly, this chaos is really not suited for me, I'd much rather be debating or teaching than working with this rabble."

"I think the tents are good, Cyril." Deran said, eyeing the tents, which were stretched taught over the polls. "Any tighter and a strong breeze will knock them over, they need to have some slack so that they don't capsize."

Cyril grumbled, and dissmissed the soldiers. "Fine, fine I was tiring of this anyway."

"Because he's been working **so** hard just standing there yelling." Inferna muttered to Terrador, rolling her eyes. The earth dragon chuckled, and shrugged. Cyril glanced over at the two, and glowered. Inferna whistled cheerfully, pretending not to notice the Ice Guardian's glare. Cyril huffed and turned away, affronted. The Guardians moved to inspect their tents, when a breathless courier raced up to them, and ground to a halt, the red dragoness's flanks heaving.

"My lords," The messenger gasped, bowing. "We recieved a message from the ferans and panthers!"

"What does they want?" Terrador asked, stepping forward.

"I don't know, but the kings require your presence."

The Guardians glanced at one another, concerned.

"Alright, we will be there momentarily." Terrador huffed. The messenger bowed and jogged off.

"I wonder if they're suing for peace?" Inferna murmured as the group set off, heading back towards the pavilion.

"We can only hope." Cynder sighed, shaking her head.

The Guardians forced their way through a crowd of soldiers as they neared the pavilion, and to their surprise, found a panther standing outside the tent, surrounded by a contigiant of royal guards. The soldiers crowding around stared hatefully at the black feline, who ignored the cold stares, his green eyes fixed upon the sky.

"So that would be the messenger." Deran murmured as they slipped by, entering the tent.

"Of course he is, how else would they send a message? Through some mystical network of interconnecting machines?" Inferna snickered. "Don't be silly Deran."

Deran grinned, blushing slightly, but was cut off from responding by furious muttering. The kings stood crowded around an unbound scroll, which lay on the table. They glanced up as the Guardians, Spyro and Deran took their seats, and Prowlus snorted.

"About time you all showed up." The feline monarch snapped, huffing.

"Judgeing by your I take it the message isn't good then." Spyro sighed, his expression grim.

"Yes and no." Pyron snorted, not looking up from the scroll.

"Yes and no?" Deran asked, confused. "How can a message be good, and bad?"

Pyron raised an eye ridge, and looked up at the forge master, and then over to Inferna. He decided not to object to Deran's presence.

"Well, it's good because it is not an open declaration of war against us." Pyron answered, looking back down at the scroll. "But..."

"It further complicates our situation, and theres." Albiard grumbled, tapping a thick, stout digging claw on the table.

"What do you mean?" Cynder muttered, confused. "What does it say?"

"The gist of it is, lass, that they will open up nogotiations, **if** we pay compensation." Diatrax murmured, taking a swig from a flaggon of grog.

"WHAT?!" Cyril hissed, his eyes flaring. "They **dare** want **us** to compensate **them**, even after they murdered **dozens** of our people, in an unprovoked..."

"Compensation for their ambassador Gorgulline, who **we** apparently murdered in cold blood." Pyron finished, cutting Cyril off.

"Gorgulline? The ambassador we hosted while we nogotiated the peace treaty?" Spyro asked, his brow furrowing. "He's dead? He left to return the treaty back to his homeland on the day of the attack. We assumed he had been the one to signal the attack."

"Well apparently he was as much a victim as you were." Pyron grunted looking around the pavillion. "Killed by whoever was responsible for the attack."

"That is, unless the ferans are only trying to trick us into letting down our guard." Prowlus muttered.

"Aye." Diatrax grunted in agreement.

"And if he was really killed, then that begs the question: by whom?" Inferna mused aloud, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Precisely." Cyrine warbled. The great halk suffled over to the scroll, his talons tapping on the packed earth. "Judging by the tone of the message," the avian king murmured, gesturing over the scroll with both wings. "the Ferans and Panther's are convinced that we murdered their ambassador while he was on his way home, and they claim that their soldiers retaliated by attacking the Temple, believing we were responsible. They also say that they have a witness that testified this, and who was present during his murder, and during the battle."

"And if both sides believe the other is to blame..." Cynder whispered.

"Then there must be a third, hidden party." Spyro replied, finishing Cynder's statement. "One who wants us to wage war on each other."

The tent was silent for a time, as everyone digested the news. It was Prowlus who broke the silence.

"This does not change the facts. The Dragon Temple was attacked, our people butchered by their people. With no other evidence we must push on."

"We will march on Dellberie, and see if we can open nogotiations." Pyron announced, resolute, his massive, black horned head rising up proudly. "If we are betrayed again, we will bring all our might down upon the Ferans, and rain swift, hard justice upon those responsible."

All in the tent nodded in agreement, expressions firm.

"Servant!" Albiard barked, gesturing with his hammer to a black canine standing at attention by the tent flap. Bring us some paper and ink! We will be sending a reply to the count of Dellberie. Tell the panther to ready himself for the journey, and supply him with whatever he needs to make it there safely."

"As long as it isn't anything like gold or weapons." Diatrax growled, glaring at the servant with his one eye. "We already have enough problems without supplying our potential enemies with much needed resources."

The servant bowed, and exited the pavilion, calling for paper and ink. The monarchs and Guardians turned to each other, and nodded.

"Alright." Terrador rumbled. "So where should we begin?"

* * *

Jaxar sighed, and leaned back on his chair, enjoying the view of Dellberie. The sorcerer raised his glass of fine, white wine, and gazed through it, examining the image of the city and the setting sun through it. The high walls of the old, granite fortress were surrounded by vast, ancient trees, whoes tops nearly reach twice over the hight of the walls. Behind the battlements and machines of war, small flat roofed buildings and streets wound around the base of an enormous marble tower, which reached high into the sky, seeming to graze the sky itself.

"Mm, I always liked it here, such lovely stonework." Jaxar murmured to himself, shutting his eyes, and tipping back his glass, sipping the sweet, fruity wine. "And so pratical as well. Just about everything here can be used as a defensive measure. It would be a costly to attack Dellberie, but vital. This city is the reason the ferans held back Malefor for so long."

"You don't haff to giff me a lecture, Jaxar." Travix grumbled from the shadows. "I already know my feran hishtory."

"But there's so much to teach, my pupil." Jaxar laughed, tapping the stone of the balcony the two sat on, high up in the tower. "Like how the Tower of Arganzark was the last resisting bastion of the Panthers before they were absorbed into the feran empire two hundred years ago? And that it's making dates back to the era of the light dragon empire?"

Travix yawned, shaking his head. "Who caresh?"

"Well I think it's interesting." Jaxar muttered, chuckling. "It's facinating to be sitting in something that has seen the rise and fall of civilizations, and know that countless others before you had walked these very same halls, leaving their mark in the stone itself with each step."

Travix rolled his eyes, and turned over in his spot by the balcony entrance, and resumed knawing on a thick leg bone.

"My lord?" A nervous feran murmured, stepping up beside the half-breed magician.

"Yes?" Jaxar murmured, putting down his cup, and looking up at the maned jungle dragon.

"The messenger hasreturned, my lord." The feran said, bowing.

"Excellent, bring him to me!"

"As you wish, my lord."

Jaxar smiled contentedly as the feran turned and padded away. Jaxar sipped from his glass again, shifting so he was more comfortable in his chair, while he waited for the messenger. Jaxar was just taking the last sip of his wine when the feran returned, bowing.

"Here he is, my lord."

"Thank you." Jaxar murmured, rising to his feet and turning to the ragged, sweat plastered feline. "You may go."

The feran bowed, and turned away, vanishing into the hallway. The panther kneeled before the sorcerer, producing a thick evelope.

"The reply to Duke Aromis's letter, from the five kings and Guardians." The panther mumbled, his head bowed. Jaxar reached over and took the envelope, smiling.

"Why thank you. I'll make sure it gets to the duke. You may take your leave. You look exhausted, go buy yourself a drink." The sorcerer reached into his pouch, and produced a thick, gold coin. The panther looked up, smiling.

"Thank you my lord." He murmured, accepting the coin gratefully. Jaxar nodded, his smile sweet and kind. The panther rose and jogged away tiredly. Jaxar turned back to his table, and sat down. He traced his finger along the seal of the five kings, examining it, then, he waved his hand over it, and a faint, blue light filled up the crevices of the seal. Jaxar waited a moment, and then touched his finger to the seal, and lifted away the light, leaving an imprint of the seal burning in the air. He placed the now solid light down on the table, and broke the seal on the message. He carefully slipped out the lettered, and opened it.

Travix leaned over Jaxar's shoulder, his red eyes soaking up the contents of the letter.

"My my, what a lovely sue for peace." Jaxar murmured once he had finished. "Don't you agree?"

Travix nodded uncertainly.

"But I think that there are somethings that could really use an improvement." Jaxar murmured, almost to himself. "Like the word 'truce', that should really be 'war'" Jaxar grinned. He waved his hand over the letter, and the ink of the letter suddenly shifted. The word 'truce' melted away, the ink flowing across the page, and changing into the word 'war'. "And the word 'disscussion' should be 'slaughter'. Don't you think?" The ink fluxed again, and 'disscussion' morphed into 'slaughter'.

"Yesh, and 'peace' should be 'butchering the women and children'!" Travix snickered. Jaxar smirked, and made the appropirate changes. The document shifted and fluxed as the two changed the words of the letter, until they were satisfied with it.

"There, that looks nice and official." Jaxar grunted, sitting up. "Now, to put on the finishing touches." The purple clad sorcerer, checked the signiture, making sure it was untouched, and then slipped the letter into the envelop. Jaxar closed the evelope, and heated the wax, plopping it back on the letter, sealing it. Then, Jaxar picked up the glowing tracing of the five king's seal, and pressed it into the wax. He disspelled the tracing, and examined his work, placing the letter on the table, to let the seal cool.

"Now then, Travix." Jaxar murmured, looking over at the blood dragon. "I have a task for you. I want you go find the messenger and make sure he's... properly awarded for his efforts. Can you do that, my pupil?"

"Of courshe!" Travix grinned, getting up and padding over to the balcony edge. Jaxar reached up above his head, patting the drake's shoulder foundly.

"Excellent. Now, while you're doing that, I have a letter to deliever. I'll meet you back here once I'm done."

Travix nodded, and took off, leaping off the balcony, and flying off, to track down his prey. Jaxar watched him go, smiling fondly, then, he rose, and set off down the hall, towards the duke's quarters.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Lyrith, Savron, Voltlyn, Igneous.

Aiel, Twar, Cirial.

Darius, Dyama, Cadence, Wavlo.

Jaxar, Travix.

Pyron, Diatrax, Cyrine, Albiard.

Malicina, The Mother, Jaheel.

Did you spot the subliminal message? :D

Sorry for how long this took, and I apologize for the crappiness of this chapter. It's pretty much all filler, with only a few truly consiquential moments, like with Malicina and the army. It was, actually, that scene with the Guardians and Kings that took so long for me to finish, it just didn't want to get done. Dx

Well, now it's over, and I can get to work on much more important chapters. :P

Also, I'm going to stop promising to get these done sooner, because I don't think it'll ever happen. I find that I'm getting later and later with these, now. Probably because my levels of Lazium are rising with my intake of Skyrim and Minecraft. :S

Well, hope you at least semi enjoyed this chap. =P

PS. The poll will be closed tomorrow, so get you last votes in. I'll announce the winning choice on my profile after I've closed it.


	25. Heroes

Chapter 25. Heroes

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer:_ _I, Dardarax, do __**not **__own Spyro, Cynder, The Temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. I do however, require probe repellent, as the nasty incident last chapter proved. Several of my characters are featured in the following chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" Savron complained, stretching his purple scaled body languidly on the rocky ground. He yawned deeply, and got to his paws, blinking the last vestiges of his deep slumber away. Tirren snorted as the purple dragon winked up at her, and smiled. "I was dreaming about you, Rin."

"Get your head out of the gutter, Sav." Tirren sighed, shivering. "You're already too much of a creeper to be saying disturbing things like that."

Savron stuck his tongue out at the emerald dragoness as she turned away, rolling her eyes. Lyrith smirked wearily at the sight as he packed away the last of their salted pork rations, and tied the knot in the drawstring firmly shut. Beside him, Igneous watched Savron pad after Tirren, continuing to bombard her with flirtations until she slapped him upside the head. He mumbled something under his breath, but Tirren paid no mind to what he said.

The white dragon looked around as he slung the sack over his back, surveying their surroundings. They had set up camp in a rock outcrop of gravel and stone just at the edge of the mountain range. To Lyr's left, high, white topped mountains rose up into the clouds, their tips scraping the bright blue sky. While to his right, a vast jungle of trees and vines spread out towards the horizon.

They had been on the road for nearly three days now, and thankfully all of it was uneventful. There had been no monsters or storms since the first day, and it had been smooth flying for the entire trip.

"Alright, the last of the stuff is packed!" Danrah called out, strapping her sack to her flank. Beside her, Vash sat, examining the forest ahead with an intense gaze. He glanced over to Danrah when she spoke, and caught Lyrith's gaze. He huffed and looked pointedly away from the Albino, flicking his head so the spiny tendrils whirled around his head. Lyrith snorted, and turned away, gazing back over to the rest of the group.

Savron finally stopped teasing Tirren, and moved to the center of their makeshift camp, head held high.

"Okay then, is everybody ready?" Savron said, clearing his throat importantly as he tied his own sack onto his back. Everyone nodded.

"Excellent! Well, according to my map, we're only a couple hours hard flight away from Dellberie. With luck, we'll arrive before the battle starts so we can warn my parents about the trap waiting for them."

"And then join in the battle, right?" Tirren murmured skeptically, stepping up beside Igneous.

Savron smirked and shook his head. "I doubt we'll be allowed to do that, especially after we came here against their will. I anticipate that we'll be locked away in mom and dad's tent until the battle is over."

"Okay, though I really would have liked to knock some feran and panther heads together." Danrah muttered, stepping forward to stand beside Savron as they prepared to take off.

Savron grinned. "Don't we all." The purple dragon glanced sidelong at the others, his green eyes wandering over Igneous, Sleet, Tirren, Typhous, Vash, Voltlyn and Lyrith, all of whom stood ready for flight. "Alright, let's get moving; we don't have all day you know."

The nine dragons took off, circling up high into the air before shooting off over the jungle. They rode the wind currents, rising higher and lower to ensure they had the best speed possible.

Below, the massive trees of the jungle swept passed, vast, wooden limbs stretching up as if to try and touch the sky. The clouds overhead covered the blue sky like a moth eaten quilt, gaping holes letting patchy sunlight through to light up the dark forest below.

The group flew in relative silence, each left to their own thoughts, contemplating what was to come. From time to time conversation broke out, but it swiftly came to an end as the dragons returned to their thoughts.

_"What'll it be like?"_ Savron thought as he led his gang through the skies towards their destination, armour gleaming in the sunlight. _"I've heard so many stories about the battles mom and dad fought. Is it really as easy as it's made out to be? Mom and dad fought through so much, and they're perfectly fine, so it can't be that hard... right?"_

Savron sighed and shook his head. "These morbid thoughts are giving me a headache." The purple dragon muttered under his breath. Then, Savron glanced back at the rest of his group, and his eyes fell on Lyrith. The white dragon flew off to the right silently, his red eyes focused and hard, unwavering as he gazed into the distance. Beside him, Voltlyn flew. She too glanced over at Lyrith every once and a while, but Lyr hardly seemed to notice.

_"What's with him?"_ Savron thought, tilting his head in puzzlement. _"Ever since that day in the glade, he hasn't spoken a word. He's just followed along, and doing his job like some kind of golem. I wonder what he's thinking."_

Savron stared at the white dragon for a moment, memories of the day in the glade echoing around his head, his curiosity coming to a slow boil. Finally, unable to take it any longer, he started to edge his way over to the Albino, considering the best way to approach his question.

"Hey Sav, I think we're almost there!" Igneous shouted above the whirling wind, flapping closer to the purple so he could be heard.

The purple dragon blinked, and glanced away from Lyrith, to scan the surrounding jungle. His green eyes fixed upon a distant speck on the horizon. Thin trails of smoke wafted up from the speck, and the gleam of polished stone in the fading sunlight caught his eye. Savron nodded.

"Yeah, I think we are, though we might be too late."

"And if we are, Sav?" Sleet inquired, panting as he beat his wings, trying to keep up with the others.

"Then we go in, and try and find mom and dad before the trap springs." Savron grunted, a small grin on his face as he started to flap harder, accelerating towards the distant city. The other eight dragons looked at one another, and nodded, speeding up so that they sped over the jungle like arrows.

The city of Dellberie sprawled out over a large hill in the jungle like moss clinging to rock. Roads wound through the short, squat, flat buildings like veins, creating a winding maze of streets and passages that countless bodies flowed through like water. At the very center of the city, a great white spire stood tall and proud, a monolith of the fort's power and glory.

Swarming around the city, a vast horde of shapes surged up, and crashed against the walls of the city, grinding against its defenses. Dragons flew up over the massive trees, and across the walls, bearing great rocks and explosives. Cheetahs and canines road the dragons up and over the walls, only to leap off onto buildings behind the defenders' lines. All the while, moles manned catapults and weapons of war, bombarding the walls surrounding the city with boulders and flaming rubble.

"Whoa." Savron gasped, his eyes wide as they landed atop a gargantuan tree, half a mile out of the battle zone.

"I'm starting to think this was a really, really bad idea, Sav." Typhous muttered, looking over at the purple dragon. "This looks way out of our league."

"I... I have to agree with Typhous." Tirren gulped, gazing down at the battle waging before them.

Sleet nodded vigorously.

"It's too late to back out now." Savron swallowed, his muzzle dry. "We're only here to warm them about the trap. We should try and avoid as much fighting as possible. Everyone got their armour ready?"

"Yeah, we do." Igneous answered, looking around to make sure everyone had strapped on their gear.

"Good." Savron grunted, tightening the straps to his silvery plate armour. He glanced over and eyed the silver, flame patterned armour Igneous wore, and the chain mail the rest bore.

"Leave the sacks here; we'll come back for them after the battle. Take the pouches of crystals though, we'll need them."

The group did as they were told, silently putting their packs down on the massive branches of the tree, and tightly binding the pouches around their necks.

"Alright, we'll head towards the army first! We'll ask around and see if we can find mom and dad there. If not, we'll tell the generals about the trap, and then go in ourselves. If you want, you can stay behind, I won't make you come with me, but I would really appreciate it if you did."

"Don't worry Sav. Like you said, we've come too far to back out now." Danrah murmured, smiling over at the purple dragon. Igneous nodded in agreement, as did Tirren, Typhous, and Lyrith. Vash grunted begrudgingly, and Voltlyn remained quiet, looking over at Lyrith for assurance.

"Okay, let's go then." Savron smiled, turning and taking off from where he perched. The group followed him up, and over towards the mass of bodies swirling at the base of the hill. They had only been flying a few minutes, before Igneous cried out.

"There they are! I can see them Sav!"

Savron jerked up, and looked over to where the large, bulky red dragon pointed. Distantly, Savron could make out a purple and black speck leading a small contingent of soldiers over the wall and into the city. Moving quickly, Savron changed course, flying as fast as he could towards his parents.

_"Damn, I just hope we can make it too them in time."_

* * *

"Why did it have to come to this!" Spyro cursed as he and Cynder lead their troopers out over the city of Dellberie, dodging arrows and hurled debris. "I can't believe they didn't even wait for negotiations to attack us!"

"So much for trying to end this battle peacefully." Cynder sighed, shaking her six horned head as the squad soared above the battle. "Now we have no choice but to go through with this war. No doubt we'll have to lay siege to Grasbronda as well."

"Why does nothing ever go right?" Spyro complained, shaking his head sadly.

"I wish I knew the answer to that, Spyro." Cynder murmured, her expression twisting into a sardonic grimace. "But until we find it, we'll just have to struggle through."

A hail of arrows peppered the dragon's armour, and one of the soldiers behind the two heroes cried out in pain.

"Let's land! We're wide open for attack up here!" Spyro roared, glancing back over at the soldiers, grimacing. "There's a clearing over there that should be safe for us to land in!"

They landed roughly on the cobbled streets, and quickly took cover among the houses as another volley of projectiles rained down where they had landed. Spyro glanced around the bend to where the arrows had come from, and spotted a group of panthers notching arrows up on a roof top. The purple dragon turned to where Cynder had ducked behind an overturned cart, and shouted.

"CYNDER! I'LL DISTRACT THEM, YOU..." Spyro stopped as he realized Cynder was no longer behind the cart, smirked grimly. The archers screamed in fright and horror as the black dragoness appeared behind them and tore into their ranks, ripping the stunned felines from limb to limb.

Spyro stepped out from cover, and moved out into the center of the clearing. The twelve other dragons stepped out as well, amazement crossing over their faces as they watched the black dragoness destroy an entire squad of soldiers by herself.

Spyro glanced around at the ruined street they stood in. The cobbled stone of the walkway was broken and pieces upturned in places. The short, square buildings of grey stone were mostly intact, with a few holes blown through here and there. Spyro stepped over a smoking pile of smoldering rubble and over to Cynder, who sat panting among the moaning forms of the archers.

"Huh, you knew exactly what I was thinking. You didn't even need me!"

Cynder smiled at the compliment, and rose to her paws, shaking the splatters of blood from her scales.

"Hm... Maybe you're right."

Spyro's smile cracked, and Cynder chuckled.

"Oh lighten up, I was kidding."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell..."

"Wuss."

Spyro grinned and looked away from his mate and up over to the white spire that towered up in the center of the city.

"That should be where the duke of the city lives. If we take him, the battle should come to a halt."

"It'll be rough." Cynder murmured, stepping up beside the large, purple dragon, and gazing towards the tower.

"Hasn't it always been?" Spyro countered, turning his golden horned head to look over at Cynder.

"Yeah, I suppose it has."

Spyro turned back to the soldiers standing to attention behind them, and nodded.

"Alright, here's the plan. We're going to cut through the side passages towards the spire, as to avoid as much of the fighting as possible. Once we're there, we'll break into the tower, and find the duke. We have to try and take him alive. If he's killed, we won't be able to end this battle any time soon."

The soldiers nodded in understanding, and Spyro grunted in approval. The purple and black dragons turned and marched a steady jog down the street, paws thumping lightly on the road as they moved from cover to cover, soldiers following close behind.

From the right, a squad of Feran soldiers barged into the street, and shouted in alarm upon seeing the group. Snarling, Spyro darted forward, horns flashing as flames crackled over his body. He slammed into the scrambling soldiers like a flaming battering ram, blasting them away as they tried to prepare a defense. Spyro ground to a halt several meters behind the ferans, and whirled around. Cynder and their followers descended upon the scattered ferans who, trying to recover from the crippling comet dash, could only scream in terror as they were swarmed and cut down.

Spyro grimaced at the gruesome sight as dragon tore apart dragon, blood splattering over the cobblestones and pooling in gutters.

_"__I'm so sick of this!__"_ Spyro thought, sighing as he joined the fray once more, tearing his claws through the manned neck of one of the jungle dragons. _"__It just never ends!__ Dragon killing__dragon in pointless conflict. Panthers, felines, moles... __What can come out of it?"_

A dark red scaled Feran lunged at Spyro, fangs bared, eyes wide with fright. The purple dragon skipped to the right, and caught the dragon with the back of his paw. The feran crashed to the ground, stunned. Moments later, a sledge of stone crushed the dragon's ribs, a gout of blood spurting from the feran's muzzle. Spyro grimaced and stepped back, looking up and sighing in relief to see the skirmish finished. Spyro glanced back down at the dead dragon, and shook his head.

"Not even old enough to have lived a real life. She must have just joined the army recently." Spyro whispered. He forced back the thoughts about the life she could have lived, the things she could have done,and the family that would mourn for her. Cynder stepped up to Spyro, and shook her head, her expression grim.

"Let's go, Spyro. We have a job to do."

The purple hero nodded, swallowing hard, and turned his back on the pile of corpses that lay on the street.

_"They call us heroes, but are we really any better than the ones we slay?"_

* * *

"Shit! WHERE DID THEY GO!" Savron cursed as he dodged behind a cart, evading a flurry of arrows. The young purple dragon glanced around the cart, and spied the group of panther archers ducking through the ruins of a three floor building. He spat a blast of earth at the wall where he had last seen them, and then retreated behind the cart once more. "I swear I saw them land here! Where did they go?"

"Shouting isn't going to help, Sav!" Tirren called back to the purple dragon from her position behind a pillar. She leapt out and shot a ball of glowing green stone into the window of the archers' hide out. An explosion rocked the building, and the black felines howled as a whirlwind of green energy tore through the building.

In the confusion, Lyrith bounded into the building and up the stairs to where the archers frantically scrambled to recover their bows and arrows. The snow white dragon pounced on the nearest panther, and swatted hard with his paw, knocking the feline out cold. Snarling, he shot over to the next feline, bowling her over with a hefty tackle. The ring of leather on steel was all the warning Lyrith had as a panther thrust his sword towards the Albino. Lyr rolled off of the pantheress, and hissed in pain as the blade slashed a line across his flank.

A blast of bluish flame washed over the panther's back as he raised his sword for another swing. Igneous stepped over the fallen panther, who rolled about on the floor trying to extinguish his burning fur, and glanced around at the archers. The last four remaining felines looked at each other and bolted, rushing passed their fallen comrades.

Lyrith stood and punched the lights out of the pantheress he had floored. Then, he moved over to Igneous, nodding his thanks.

"You need a life crystal, Lyr?" Igneous asked, looking at the long cut that slashed across Lyr's side. The white dragons shook his head.

"It's just a scratch, it'll heal."

"Okay."

"Come on! We don't have all day you two!"

Igneous and Lyrith glanced out through the window and saw Savron hopping up and down in place nervously, eyeing the empty street ahead of them. The white and red dragons glanced at each other, and grinned at the purple dragon's fidgeting making their way back down to the street. The group padded quickly down the streets, weaving between the buildings and side alleys, trying to drown out the clash of steel and sounds of screams that reverberated throughout the city.

"That spire! It has to be where they've gone!" Savron shouted, the tower coming into view as they sped across a crossroad. "It looks important."

"Well I suppose it's as good a place to start as any, Sav." Typhous grunted, throwing himself to the ground as an arrow whizzed past.

Savron nodded and glanced down the main street heading to the spire. His eyes bulged as a group of ferans and panthers rounded the bend, and stopped to point at the group, standing amidst the carnage of their allies.

"Aw crap."

The black felines and jungle dragons roared and charged the group, crimson energy crackling, and weapons waving. For a moment the students were frozen, and then they braced themselves, lashing out at the charging jungle folk with blasts of magic. The Ferans and panthers did faltered as fire, lightning, shadow, ice and earth tore through them, and were forced to a halt as a blast of wind staggered them. Lyrith darted forward and slammed into the feran leading the charge. The white dragon's claws sheared through the dark crimson, manned dragon's throat. The drake fell, blood spouting from the gash, and Lyrith continued forward, ducking and dodging attacks, while lashing out with his claws and tail blade.

The others followed Lyrith's lead, Igneous leading the charge while Sleet took up the rear, and rushed the shocked soldiers. The students ripped through the reeling mass, who were too busy trying to catch the Albino who lead a deathly dance in their rank. Unable to take the pressure of the attack, the jungle folk scattered, retreating into the allies.

Savron breathed a sigh of relief, and, before the ferans could regroup, lead his gang down the main street, towards the spire. They rounded a bend, only to be swallowed by a flood of bodies, locked in combat.

"Keep to me!" Savron shouted to his friends as they were battered to and fro, jostled away from one another as soldiers pushed and shoved. Igneous, Tirren, Typhous, Vash and Danrah fought their way beside the purple drake, dragging Sleet in tow. Lyrith took up the rear, with Voltlyn just ahead of him, the white drake forcing back the swarm of bodies and steel with powerful sweeps of his paws.

With everyone gathered together once more, Savron forged ahead bashing aside shields and ducking sword swings, all the while returning the strikes with arcs of lightning. Beside him, Vash was dancing among the crowd, his eyes lidded, a soft song forming on his muzzle. The ferans and panthers around them faltered, staggering as exhaustion tugged at their eyes, allowing the dark blue, cloud speckled drake to easily cut them down. Danrah kept close to Savron's side, shadows flickering out around her, slashing and blasting all that came near, and Igneous, Tirren and Typhous rained magic down upon all in their sight.

The crowd of combatants were forced apart as the students pressed forward, the trained soldiers falling apart in confusion as they were defeated by the young dragons.

"We're nearly through!" Savron roared, grinning as he caught a glimpse of a clearing ahead. The students whooped, and pushed forward one last time, and broke free from the crowd of clashing steel and spraying blood.

"Yes!" Savron grinned, glancing back at his friends as they rushed ahead, racing towards the spire, and away from the battle waging behind them. "Now we can..."

The purple drake was silenced as he ran straight into an unyielding force, and Savron stumbled back, blinking. The others came a halt, staring, their eyes widening.

"What was..." Savron mumbled, looking up. Inferna stood above him, her expression dark, and eyes cold. Flickers of flame spouted from her nostrils with each breath, as she glared down at her students, a dark cloud of rage clouding her face.

Savron gulped, and grinned. "Uh... hi..."

* * *

"This is taking forever!" Spyro snarled, swatting aside a spear with his talons, and blasting a blaze of fire at the offending panther. "Every time we gain an inch, they take half of it back!"

"Well, who would have thought that the tower would be well defended?" Cynder snorted sarcastically, sidestepping a blast of fear energy, and returning it with a sphere of slick acid. The poison splashed against the nearest Feran's face, who reeled back, howling as it burnt away at his eyes and face.

The armoured purple grunted and glanced up at their objective. The tower loomed up before them, surrounded by a sea of bodies and steel. Waves of soldiers crashed together with screams of pain and screeches of steel as the living ocean boiled. Blood streamed over the street, making footing treacherous, even for the sure pawed. Heaps of corpses littered the courtyard, forcing the fighters to step over the bodies of their comrades and foes alike to move forward.

The ferans and panthers were heavily entrenched by the spire gates, having erected small walls from the rubble to take cover behind as their foes advanced. Archers rained arrows from the spire's windows, bringing death to dozens with each volley.

Cynder snarled as an arrow glanced off her armour and inhaled deeply. She opened her maw and a gale of wind burst out, howling up at the archers perched on the spire balconies. Their arrows, caught in mid-flight by the wind, were hurled back at the archers, cutting into them. Those that avoided being pierced by the barrage, were knocked from their precarious perch and tumbled back into the spire, or down to the earth with a crunch.

Spyro snorted, grimacing. He rushed forward, taking a step and sliding into a shadow, reappearing several meters away behind group of Ferans. So preoccupied with holding their ground, the ferans didn't notice the purple dragon inhaling, ice crystals forming around his maw until it was too late.

The force rushed forward through the gap in the defenses, leaping over the frozen bodies of their foes. Their wall breeched, the jungle folk started their retreat back into the spire, hotly pursued by the invaders. Spyro sighed as the dragons, cheetahs and canines rushed towards the spire, whooping, and spotted a large green figure moving through the crowd.

"TERRADOR!" Spyro shouted over the din, pushing his way through the mob towards the Earth Guardian. "CAN YOU KEEP THEM BACK FOR A BIT? CYNDER AND I NEED TO GET INTO THE SPIRE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, SO WE'LL NEED SOME BREATHING ROOM!"

"WE'LL DO OUR BEST, SPYRO!" Terrador roared back, his voice rolling over the cacophony like an avalanche. "WE'LL PUNCH A HOLE FOR YOU TO GET THROUGH, AND TRY TO HOLD THEIR ATTENTION! THE REST WILL BE UP TO YOU!"

Spyro nodded, and looked back at Cynder. She stood not far away, by one of the barricades watching Spyro intently. The purple dragon nodded to his black dragoness mate, and pushed over to her.

"Let's go. Terrador will hold them off for us. We just have to break through their lines, and let him and the soldiers in, then they'll keep them off our backs while we get to the duke."

Cynder nodded once, and turned sharply away. The two raced over to the spire and joined the fray once more. The two sides clashed at the spire gates, weapons screeching against armour, as the war horns blared.

Spyro and Cynder lead the charge, magic blazing. Spyro, his charge empowered by his earth magic, broke through the wall of steel. Cynder and the soldiers carved through behind him, widening the gap as their wedge drove deeper into the enemy formation. The Earth Guardian Terrador followed up the initial charge with his own, he and his soldiers slamming into the weakened blockade, and ramming the wedge home. The remaining ferans and panthers wailed, scattering. They flooded back into the spire, unable to hold formation against the brutal onslaught.

Spyro sighed in relief as the jungle dwellers bolted, and sat down to catch his breath. He tore off his gold and black helmet, and raised his head, panting, eyes squeezed shut. Cynder came to a halt beside him, breathing heavily.

"I thought we'd never get a break." Spyro gasped, rubbing at his face with his paws.

"We don't have much time, Spyro." Cynder muttered, looking up at the tower with weary eyes. "We have to get moving."

"I know." Spyro sighed, getting back up to his paws, and regretfully strapped his helmet back into place. "I just wish this was all over."

"With any luck, it will be soon." Terrador grunted, padding over to the pair and huffing shortly. "You go on ahead, I'll take up the rear and ensure nobody tries to sneak up on you."

"Thanks." Spyro murmured, turning back Cynder. She nodded and they set off into the tower, through the arched gates.

The inside of the spire was cool, dry and dark, in stark contrast with the wet heat of the jungle. Grand pillars rose up from the tiled floor, reaching up and touching the mosaic ceiling like titanic stone arms. From high up on the walls, light streamed through high arched windows. Hastily erected platforms of wood stood below these windows, where the archers had so previously been perched.

However, neither Spyro nor Cynder spared the marvellous artwork more than a passing glance as they marched through the chamber. They moved through the hall, slipping from pillar to pillar, expecting an ambush from the dark at any moment. Much to their surprise, they made it across without any difficulty.

"Wow, that was easy."

"Yeah, not a good sign." Cynder muttered as they stepped up to the passage way leading out of the grand hall. The short passage led to an intersection of three halls that spread out over the spire. Spyro glanced down the left path, and took several long paces down it. It ended in a spiral staircase leading down. He retraced his steps back to the intersection, where he found Cynder waiting for him patiently. Spyro moved passed her, and looked down the other two halls, before glancing back at his mate.

"Well, I'm stumped, Cynder. Which one do you think leads to the throne room?"

"It's the right one." Cynder murmured, staring at the purple dragon, a hint of a smile playing across her muzzle. Spyro frowned.

"How do you..."

Cynder sighed and, rolling her eyes, pointed up at the top of the right hallway, where a sign clearly labelled 'Throne room' was carved into the granite.

Spyro's face turned beet red and he stammered, flustered. "Oh. Well... anyone could have missed that."

"You can be such a dolt sometimes, Spyro." Cynder muttered, shaking her head. She turned and set off at a brisk pace down the hall. Spyro smiled as she left, and followed after her, jogging to catch up. The hall was relatively short, and the pair soon found themselves standing in a waiting chamber before a large, iron door. They opened it cautiously, anxious that they had not been harassed at all on the way to the throne room.

Behind the door a long, cavernous room lay out before them. Marble pillars reaching up and supporting the arched ceiling, the tiled floor gleaming in the flickering torchlight. Dark shadows moved and twisted in the far corners of the hall, shapes seeming to flicker to life in their depths, before fading once more. Spyro and Cynder strode down the hall, heads held high, expressions of confidence masking their apprehension as they moved towards the figure sitting upon the throne.

The figure lounged in the seat of the throne, one leg kicked up over the arm of the chair. His purple robes draped carelessly over the sides of the carved stone, and a crystal topped staff leaned against the side, a faint purple light gleaming within its depths. In one gloved hand, the figure played with a gold circlet, spinning it about on a finger, his red-orange eyes bored.

Jaxar's face brightened as Spyro and Cynder approached where he sat. He put the circlet down as he sat up straight.

"I was beginning to wonder if you two were ever going to make it!" Jaxar exclaimed brightly, taking his staff back in hand. "You have no idea how boring this place is!"

"I'm starting to think it may have been a good idea to have brought soldiers with us." Spyro whispered to Cynder as they came to a stop at the foot of the throne's dais.

"Too late for that now." Cynder murmured back as she took a step forward towards the sorcerer.

"Stand down, and surrender peacefully. We can end this meaningless battle now!"

Jaxar laughed, and stood, leaning on his staff as he chuckled. "I believe you may be mistaking me for someone else, Cynder, Terror of the Skies."

Cynder flinched at the mention of her old title, and then frowned as Jaxar lifted the circlet, and tossed it down the steps of the dais towards them.

"If you are looking for Duke Aromis, than you won't find him here."

"What are you saying!" Spyro demanded, his face darkening as the purple clad half-breed stepped down from the throne towards them. "Who are you then?"

"I am Jaxar, advisor to prince Ramolous, and royal sorcerer to the Feran Empire." Jaxar declared, bowing and flourishing his robe dramatically. "I'm afraid I cannot be of service to you, as I am here to kill you."

The purple and black dragons blinked in surprise, and then lowered into a defensive crouch snarling.

"Kill us?" The black dragoness demanded, her body tense. "Why?"

"Why?" Jaxar laughed, shaking his head as he stepped down from the dais in front of the two heroes. "Well, for many reasons, but the most prevalent being that you exist."

"Wh... What?" Spyro exclaimed, confused. "You wish to kill us because we exist?"

"I phrased that wrong. **You** will die Spyro, because you exist." Jaxar corrected, holding his chin in his hand. "Cynder will die because she will inevitably attempt to avenge you, and ruin everything I've worked for."

"Like hell you will!" Cynder snarled, her green eyes flashing. "It's two against one, and any moment now reinforcements will arrive. You have no chance."

"On the contrary, It is you who is outnumbered!" Jaxar grinned, his sunken eyes gleaming beneath his hood. He raised his hands, holding his staff in the cook of his arm, and clapped them together. A sudden wailing rent through the air, and the two heroes clutched at their heads, grimacing in pain as the screaming tore at their ears.

"WHAT IN THE ANCESTORS' NAME IS THAT?" Spyro roared to Cynder, his eyes watering in pain. Cynder didn't answer, her eyes fixed on the writhing shadows around them. Deep in the shadows, blue-green light spilled out from a dozen glowing pentagrams etched in the stone all over the hall. But rather than banishing the shadows, the unearthly light amplified it, the darkness swelling until it devoured all the natural light in the room.

Spyro jumped in shock, as a clawed arm reached out from one of the pentagrams. It clawed at the stone, its pink, fleshy arms ending with seven, spidery fingers, each tipped with long, slender claws. Jaxar laughed at the horror that creased the two heroes' faces as the monsters pulled themselves from the circles, hideously deformed bodies twisting and writhing as they emerged. Seven legs held the dozen monsters aloft as they clawed at the air with their three arms. Their swollen eyeless head twisted around, searching the air with their insect-like feelers. They crawled forward, snapping their beaks hungrily as they surrounded the two dragons.

Jaxar snickered. "I hope you two aren't planning on escaping, because that's a no-no." The twisted sorcerer raised his staff into the air, and slammed its butt into the ground. On the far side of the hall, the doors started to swing shut, sigils carved into its frame glowing a dull blue. It slammed shut, and a thick, steel bar falling into place.

"Well there goes our hope of reinforcements." Spyro growled as he and Cynder moved back to back, their rears bumping together as the monsters circled them, howling. The beasts surged forward, and the two blasted the beasts, fear and fire tearing into the coming monsters.

Spyro ducked as one of the monsters swung its clawed at him, and whipped around, slamming his tail against the beast's torso. It stumbled back, but its many legs kept it relatively stable as it launched itself at the purple dragon again. Spyro snarled as it clawed his side, its talons scraping against his armour, and then spat a blob of molten fire into its face. It barely flinched as the liquid flame seared through its fleshy head, and it struck forward again, momentarily surprising Spyro by its lack of reaction to his attack. The purple dragon narrowly evaded its swing, and rammed its stomach hard with his helmeted head.

Cynder gnashed her fangs in fury as she clawed and slashed at the monsters, bathing them in washes of shadow and acidic poison. None of her attacks seemed to affect the monsters, as they continued their assault, ignoring all the wounds she dealt to them. The swarm of monsters circled the two, slowly forcing the dragons to separate as they attacked from multiple fronts, only to retreat, drawing them away from each other.

A sudden explosion rocked the ground, sending Spyro and Cynder tumbling to the ground with a thud. The monsters too, were sent stumbling back, but they did not fall. Spyro rolled to his paws before the beasts could recover, and unleashed a wave of ice over the monsters' legs, to freeze them in place. Then, he glanced around the room and spotted the source of the explosion.

Jaxar had retaken his place on the dais, and was juggling a ball of fire between his hands. He grinned upon noticing Spyro's gaze, and tossed the ball into the air. He gripped his staff, brought it back, and swung as the ball came down. Spyro dove on top of Cynder, who was just rising to her paws as a bright flash of energy filled the room. A second explosion rocked the room as the ball struck the ground. The two heroes were sent flying, and landed hard, skidding across the ground, and coming to a halt beside a statue of a warrior panther.

Jaxar sighed and shook his head as two of his creatures fell apart, their iced limbs shattered from the force of the blast.

"And this is why I generally choose not to interfere in these sorts of things. I just can't control myself."

Spyro climbed off of Cynder, who squirmed beneath him, hissing. "Sorry." He whispered, as she rolled to her paws.

She sighed and shook her head. "Had it been anyone but you, I would have ripped their eyes out." Cynder grunted, looking over at her mate with a small grin. Spyro didn't have time to respond, as the beasts roared and charged towards their prey, their claws gleaming.

The monsters were met with a wall of magic. Wreaths of flame and shadow halted their advance, while bolts of lightning and blasts of wind tore through them, scattering their ranks. Jaxar watched in dismay as his monsters were beaten back, shaking his head and clucking his tongue as the mindless beasts tried vainly to surround the cornered pair.

"I think it's time I bring things back into my favour." Jaxar murmured, raising his hands into the air. "At this rate the Voghoula won't last another ten minutes." Closing his eyes, Jaxar started a low chant, his voice starting low and entreating, and then growing powerful and commanding. His twisting hands and fingers started tracing glowing runes in the air as he recited the spell, pulling to him all the spirit energy he could muster, and bending it to his will.

Spyro jerked as the door boomed, shouting sounding behind it. He glanced over at the sealed entrance, his eyes widening with hope.

"About time!" Cynder muttered, whirling to evade a claw strike from one of the monsters, and slashing out its legs with her tail blade. "I thought they would never show up!"

"No kidding!" Spyro cursed, slamming a paw down on the Voghoula's head, crushing it. A spray of pus splattered out from its crushed skull, and Spyro gagged in revulsion. Cynder dodged behind one of the monsters, and leaped atop its back, bearing it to the ground. It struggled, flailing madly as Cynder tore it apart, shredding it until it fell still. Then the black dragoness jumped off of it, and looked over at Spyro.

"Halfway through, Spyro! We've almost..." Cynder stopped as her eyes fell on the purple clad sorcerer, and her eyes went wide with horror. "SPYRO!" She shouted in horror, staring at the rainbow tapestry of runes carved into the air in front of the half-breed.

Spyro turned from mutilating the Voghoula, and spat, growling in rage.

Jaxar cried out, his voice resonate with power as he carved the last sigils into the air, and placed his hand in the center of the ethereal tablet he had created. Jaxar opened his eyes as he traced the final rune into this spell, the key stone to his spell and took a deep breath. An arc of lightning crashed into him, and Jaxar howled in pain, falling back from his spell, crumpling to the ground. The surge of magic sparked through the air, and ignited the sigils. They blazed for a moment, flashing colours of every hue imaginable rippled through the air, and then it split apart, howling as the very air tore open.

Spyro and Cynder were bowled over as a wave of hot, fetid air exploded through the room with hurricane force. Jaxar groaned and struggled up onto his elbows, orange-red eyes wide in shock.

"Oh my." He whispered, blinking incredulously. "This is new."

The rift howled as it was rent open further, foul, ghoulish light spilling through. Beyond the tear in the world, a vast, swamp stretched, trees of bones reached up out of the murky, black waters, finger bone twigs rattling in the gale. Two dark, distant suns shone through the smokey haze, casting everything in an emerald hue. In the distance, creatures horrible beyond imagining lurked, watching the portal with twisted faces. None approached however, some strange power holding them back.

"What the..." Spyro murmured, staring into the rift with horrified awe. "What is that?"

Suddenly, the scene through the rift changed, showing a flat land of ice. Black snow lay in sludgy piles over the wasteland. Pits of tar boiled up in geysers in the distance, touching the black sky like slime encrusted fingers. The scene changed again, and then again. The rift growing wider as the landscape twisted and shifted. Then, abruptly, it collapsed, shrinking rapidly and winking out of existence.

Spyro and Cynder stood shakily, not sure what had just happened. The glanced over at Jaxar, who stood, staring with wide eyes where the portal had been. The monsters lay scattered across the floor like limp, fleshy dolls, unmoving in the wake of the gale.

Spyro laughed at Jaxar's blank expression, drawing the sorcerer's gaze.

"Looks like your spell failed, Jaxar!" The purple dragon chuckled, shaking his head. "Give up, and..." Spyro stopped as a bead of light appeared where the portal had been, his amethyst eyes furrowing in puzzlement. Jaxar grinned, and dove for cover behind the throne.

The explosion ripped through the air with tremendous force, the bead of light expanding outward with incredible speed, swallowing up all in its path. The shockwave caught the two dragons like straw in a windstorm, and tossed them across the room. They struck the opposite wall, crashing into the iron door with clangs of metal on metal, their armour crumpling like tin. Spyro and Cynder roared in pain as they fell to the floor in a heap, clutching at their sides, agony spiking through their bodies.

Jaxar peered up over the remains of the throne, and grinned, his sunken eyes burning intently at the sight before him. The remaining Voghoula had been splattered across the floor and walls from the force of the blast, their soft, sagging bodies unable to handle the force of the explosion. A large crater smoked around where the portal had detonated, blasted stone melted and bubbling. But it was what stood in the middle of the crater, that sent Jaxar into peals of laughter.

"Thanks Cynder." Spyro groaned as he got slowly to his paws, his legs wobbling unsteadily. "If you hadn't cushioned us with air... right before the explosion... we'd be little more than smears on the wall right now..."

"You can thank... me later..." Cynder groaned shaking hard as she stood. "But I don't think we came... out of this completely unscathed... I think a few of my ribs are broken..."

Spyro chuckled weakly, and glanced over at his left wing, which flopped uselessly at his side. "Same here..."

"It looks like my summoning wasn't a complete failure!" Jaxar grinned, getting up from where he hid behind the throne, dusting off his robes. "In truth, your interference may have just made things worse for you."

Spyro glanced over at Jaxar, his expression exasperated. "Crap, I had kind of hoped the explosion would..." The purple dragon stopped as his eyes fell upon the figure standing in the crater, his eyes widening in horror.

It stood on four, massive reptilian legs, a great snake tail twitching out behind it. Four long, arms, as thick as tree-trunks spread out from its furred torso. Nine red eyes gleamed from its primate head, and its expression was twisted into an evil sneer. The monster glowered about the room, scratching at its chest with its massive claws, flakes of bark like skin peeling off, and falling with a thump on the boiling stone floor.

The thing yawned widely, and glanced over at the sorcerer, who took a step towards it, grinning. It hissed, a sibilant, warbling cackle echoing from its maw, its nine eyes narrowing at Jaxar. Jaxar responded with a cry of his own, a gurgling, chirping call that strained the listener's ears. The monster snorted, and rumbled, its cackles and snorts punctuated with agonizingly high pitched sounds that forced Spyro and Cynder to clutch at their ears, faces screwed up in pain.

"Ahoribatizzagglaman." Jaxar gurgled, his throat straining with each syllable. "Tbbobar gt tyv'jheod ugyftf-biug." The sorcerer gestured to the two dragons on the other side of the room. "Jugipb rrgdtulb!"

The beast turned its head to look at the two heroes, and grinned, its crooked fangs gleaming brown in the torchlight.

Jaxar suddenly cocked his head, as if listening to something, and then turned to the two as well, his smile wide. "I'm afraid this is where we must part ways, as I have an urgent appointment that I cannot be late for. Do try to make your last moments memorable, we wouldn't want you heroes to go down without a good fight."

The monster cooed malignantly, taking a step towards the purple and black dragons. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, eyes wide in terror as it lumbered towards them, stepping carelessly on the pussy stains left by the Voghoula, clawed, webbed feet digging into the stone.

Jaxar turned his back on the scene, and waved his hand in farewell as he traced a gateway into the air. "Adieu, saviour of the lands, and Terror of the skies! With any luck, we won't meet again!" With the portal finished, he stepped through, vanishing from sight.

"Coward." Spyro hissed, wincing in pain as he and Cynder backed away, broken limbs pulling at them. Behind the two heroes, the iron door crashed open, the steel bar snapping as the hammering drove the portal inward. Soldiers poured into the room, Canines, Felines and dragons led by the emerald green figure of the Guardian of Stone. The mob of warriors ground to a halt several paces into the room, gazing up in horror as they beheld the monster. The beast cackled, and advanced another step, a grey, slug-like tongue snaking out from its maw, and over its cracked, dry lips.

"By the ancestors." A grey wind dragon murmured, blue eyes wide as saucer pans. "Wh... What is that thing?"

"A Behemoth." Terrador breathed, stepping up beside Cynder, jaw clenched hard together. "But how? How did one get here? I thought..."

"Long story." Spyro grunted, wincing. His amethyst eyes flickered over to where Jaxar had stood moments before, and then back up at the Behemoth. "And we don't exactly have time to expla..."

The Behemoth pounced without warning, its massive body blurring in motion as it launched itself towards the cluster of soldiers. Spyro, Cynder and Terrador scattered, leaping to the side. The soldiers weren't so lucky. They scrambled to escape as the monster descended, screaming in fear as they fought to get away. It landed atop them with a roar, nauseating snaps and pops echoed around the room as it pulverized the battalion of guards. The Behemoth snatched up the stragglers with its colossal claws, and lifted them up into the air, gurgling with glee. It raised a struggling water dragon to its mouth and bit into it, fangs ripping out a chunk of the dragon's flesh, eliciting a howl of agony from the drake.

Cynder gagged in revulsion as the Behemoth devoured the rest of the water dragon bite by bite, bones snapping with each chomp. The ragtag remains of the attack force regrouped and rained desperate blows against the monster, bombs of fire, arcs of lightning and rains of arrows peppered its hide, getting little but a snort of irritation from the beast.

"Catch!" Terrador bellowed, tossing a sack across the ground as he rose to his paws. Spyro reached out and grabbed the sack as it slid to him, and he glanced inside. Gleaming life crystals shone brightly in the burlap bag, red light gleaming over his scales. Spyro glanced back up as the Earth Guardian turned to the Behemoth, his expression grim.

"We'll keep it distracted while you heal up! We need to kill this thing before it can get out of here! If it escapes out into the city, the entire population, including us will be obliterated!"

"How do we kill it?" Cynder called, raising to her paws as Terrador raced over to his soldiers, who scattered as the Behemoth finished its meal, and turned its attention to the warriors. Terrador paused, and knocked a paw against a pillar, glancing back at the two. Spyro and Cynder stared at the green dragon for a moment, before nodding, understanding what he meant. Spyro scooped out half of the crystals and tossed the bag over to Cynder, who snatched it out of the air. She raised the bag to her muzzle, before pausing and looking over to Spyro, eyes wide.

"Move!" She bellowed, diving behind a pillar. Spyro turned and ducked, but was too late. The Behemoth's rattlesnake tail clipped him across the side, hurling the purple dragon into the air and across the room, his pawful of life gems tinkling to the ground. Spyro hit the wall with an "oof", his armour rattling as he bounced off the wall, and hit the ground.

Spyro moaned, dazed, blinking the whirling stars out of his vision unable to rise from where he lay. He distantly heard Cynder cry out, just as a dark mass moved over him. Spyro squinted, and then gasped as he felt a vice close over his ribs, squeezing shut. He groaned in pain as his bones creaked and was raised up into the air, dangling like a ragdoll in the Behemoth's grasp. It cackled maliciously as it held the Purple hero aloft, and shook him violently.

"I has you naow... lickle drraghhyy" The Behemoth rasped, its fangs grinding together as it spoke. "Mashtker be pleassed when yohu die."

Spyro blinked, stunned as the monster gurgled a laugh, and opened its maw wide. Spyro shut his eyes tight, his vision swimming from the stench of the Behemoth's breath, and waited for the end. A flash of purple light seared through Spyro's eye lids, and he opened his eyes, only to find himself falling with a crash to the ground, the Behemoth's arm severed.

Spyro gasped as he hit the earth, his injuries sparking pain through his body in waves. The purple dragon stared up at the monster as it reared up, howling as it clutched the stump of its severed arm, greenish white fluid falling to splatter on the purple dragon. Cynder rushed up to him, panting as the purple light faded from her body.

"Spyro! Spyro are you okay! Speak to me!" She begged, leaning over him and shaking him lightly. Spyro looked up at her, and grinned goofily.

"Hey Cyn." He murmured, blinking blearily. "You'll never guess what I saw when my life was flashing before my eyes."

Cynder stared at Spyro dumbly, her muzzle falling open in shock as he started reciting the things he had experienced.

"… Then I saw my family at the swamp. Then was the time when Sav hatched, as well as his first words. But the most vivid was our third time together, when you brought that bottle of tomato sauce, a ball of yarn, and that big stick you used to..."

Cynder gently paffed Spyro across the head, her dark scales flushed crimson. "Spyro! You idiot! Now is not the time for jokes!"

The purple dragon grinned and rose to his paws shakily, glancing over at the monster as it raged, stomping and snarling, the green, pus like blood spilling from its severed arm. Cynder passed the purple dragon a pawful of his life crystals, dragging him away from the Behemoth as Terrador and the soldiers distracted it. Spyro gulped down the crystals, grimacing as they scraped his throat. He sighed in relief as he felt his injuries close, and then winced as his wing bone popped back into place, hissing in pain.

"Okay, thanks Cyn." Spyro murmured, nuzzling the black dragoness's ear in gratitude. She pushed him away.

"Come on, we don't have time for fooling around! We need to help them!"

Spyro nodded, his expression becoming resolute. "Right."

They turned to the Behemoth as it roared and swatted a dragon from the air with its clawed hand, and turned its nine baleful red eyes to the heroes. It snarled and advanced on the two, kicking aside any soldier that got in its way. It shouldered through the columns, knocking some loose.

Spyro and Cynder took off, not hesitating a moment longer. They soared up into the air, until they were level with the Behemoth's eyes, and then separated, circling around and dodging among the pillars. The nine eyed, lizard legged beast snatched at the pair with its three remaining arms, vainly grasping at air as they dived and swooped. Spyro slid under one of its enormous arms and blasted at its side with a blaze of flame, scorching its wiry hairs, but doing little else. The Behemoth snorted in irritation and flicked its tail up at the purple dragon, who veered upwards to evade it. Its snake tail crashed into one of the many pillars supporting the ceiling, which toppled, shattering into thousands of marble chips as it crashed to the ground.

Far below, Terrador watched Spyro and Cynder leading the beast on a dance through the pillars, which it bowled over in its mad rush to reach the two. Terrador looked over at the remains of his battalion, a mere score of dragons, felines and canines, all worn from battle.

"Retreat!" Terrador roared, turning back to the exit, gesturing for the soldiers to follow. They stared at him incredulously, looking between the two heroes fighting, and their commander.

"But... what about...?" A bruised and battered ice dragoness murmured, eyes concerned as they hesitantly followed after the Guardian of Stone.

"They know what they're doing." Terrador grunted, making his way quickly over to the exit. "They've dealt with worse situations before."

The warriors looked at each other and nodded, swallowing hard. Terrador stopped at the throne room exit, and waited as the soldiers rushed through. Once the last cheetah straggler limped through the limp iron doors, Terrador stepped in himself, glancing back at Spyro and the Shadow Guardianess, his own eyes alight with worry.

"Please, come back safely." He murmured, turning away and vanishing into the hall.

"I have to admit, this thing is one of the toughest bastards we've ever fought!" Spyro shouted over to Cynder as they swooped around behind it, having blasted it with all of their elements in turn. "None of our magics seemed to do more than annoy it! I don't even think Malefor could have shrugged us off like this!"

"I know. I think we're going to have to take Terrador's idea and bring the ceiling down on top of it!" Cynder shouted back, flipping over a swipe of its arm and spitting a glop of venom on its arm. It hissed in pain as the acid bubbled against its skin, but merely brushed the acid away, wiping its claws on its scaled legs.

"We'll only have a short time to escape!" Spyro replied with a grunt, taking cover behind a cluster or pillars, breathing hard. Cynder joined him, panting as well.

"I'm not an idiot, Spy." Cynder muttered, shaking her head. They pulled away from the pillars moments before the Behemoth crashed through them, arms pulling the stone apart with wrenching yanks.

"Think enough of the pillars are down?" Spyro asked, diving low to the ground and turning his gaze towards the vast space the Behemoth had torn through the forest of stone, mountains of rubble laying across the broken floor.

"Only one way to find out!" Cynder roared, flying up high into the air above the monster, nearly touching the ceiling as she swerved. The behemoth roared triumphantly as she soared above it, and swiped up at her with one of its massive hands. Cynder swooped to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch. The fist slammed into the ceiling, crashing through it and lodging its hand in the roof. It grunted in surprise, and attempted to yank its fist from the roof. The ceiling groaned as it pulled, cracks tearing open as it jerked its arm around, lodged up to its wrist in the stone.

Spyro and Cynder glided over to one another, watching as it twisted and pulled, unable to break free. Finally, it snorted and grabbed its arm with its other, remaining pair of limbs, and heaved one last time. It's arm came free from the roof with a crack, and it stumbled backwards, shaking its hand to alleviate the numbness. It turned to look at the two heroes, grinning.

"Look like you trick no work, foolish draggies!" The Behemoth cackled, grinding its fangs together in a low laugh.

Spyro grinned as the ceiling groaned once more, and he shook his head. "Nope. I think it did."

The Behemoth grunted, confused, and then it looked up, flinching as rubble peppered its head. It's nine eyes widened in realization as the ceiling buckled, long, deep cracks snapping open across the entirety of the roof. It looked back down at the two heroes, and roared in fury, stomping forward towards them. Spyro and Cynder turned and bolted for the exit, dodging around a chunk of marble as it plummeted towards the ground. The behemoth struggled on after them, but the last of the pillars and crumbling roof kept it at bay, unable to keep up with the swift dragons as they made their escape. A section of the ceiling ground apart, and started to fall. Desperately, the Behemoth reached up with its claws, and pushed the section back into place, supporting the buckling roof with its body. It warbled in its native language, and eerie green power flowed out of it and into the roof, slowly mending the cracks that tore open along the stone.

Spyro looked back as they reached the iron doors leading out of the throne room, and snarled furiously.

"Oh no you don't!" He hissed, drawing in a deep breath, and letting out a loud roar. A titanic blast of green earth energy exploded out from his muzzle shooting out and slamming into the crumbling ceiling above the Behemoth. It screamed as the stonework above it exploded, pouring down on top of it in an avalanche of rubble and stone.

"Spyro! Get out of there!" Cynder screamed, turning around as she flew out the exit, hovering anxiously. Spyro turned and bolted out after her, the room collapsing behind him. They sped through the hallway as quickly as they could, an ominous, thundering rumble quaking behind them as they turned into the entrance hall. They dodged through the pillars, flying fast and hard to escape the rumbling cascade of stone approaching them from behind.

The pair shot out of the spire entrance and landed with a grunt, stumbling as they set down, nearly crashing into the ground as their momentum carried them forward. Sighing, they turned to examine their handy work, and flinched. The spire let out a miserable groan, tilting heftily to the side as a wall of dust and stone flex bust out the open door. Then, it crumpled, the top of the spire falling atop the weakened foundation. Floor by floor the tower collapsed, crushing all beneath it as it toppled, imploding downward with agonizing slowness.

"Ancestors above." Spyro whispered, horrified. "I didn't think my blast was that strong!"

"I just hope there was nobody else in there." Cynder whispered, shaking her head. All fighting in the area stopped to watch as the tower fell, weapons lowered and mouths agape in shock and horror.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the tower ground to a halt, the top five floors sitting atop a mountain of stone chunks and rubble. There was no sound other than the blowing wind, and the creak of loose stone. Spyro and Cynder stepped up cautiously onto the remnants of the spire, and looked around.

"Do... Do you think it's dead?" Spyro asked, nervously.

"Ancestors, I hope so." Cynder muttered, shaking her head. "If collapsing a tower on top of it can't kill it, then nothing will.

A rock teetered and fell with a clatter of stone beside the pair, and they jumped in alarm, turning to the source of the motion, crouched low. There was nothing there. They waited a moment, and then sighed in unison, grinning over at each other foolishly.

"Spyro! Cynder! You two alright!" Terrador called, padding over to the pair and examining them, relieved.

"As well as we can be." Spyro answered, chuckling as they descended the pile of stone, kicking up a small avalanche of pebbles as they went. "Are the soldiers alright?"

"The survivors are as well as they can be, considering they just fought a Behemoth and got out of it mostly intact." Terrador grunted. He looked between them grimly. "Most of the Ferans and Panthers seem to be throwing down arms. Seeing the spire collapse must have broken whatever moral they had remaining."

"But not all." Cynder murmured.

"No, not all. There are still some factions left that are putting up resistance, but they're small, and don't have much fighting spirit left in them. They'll break before long."

"Which brings us to our next problem."

The three turned and blinked as Inferna strode up to them her expression furious. She snorted, and dragged Savron up beside her by the horns, all but throwing him at his parents' paws.

Spyro's and Cynder's eyes widened upon seeing their son, and then narrowed. Savron looked up at them, and balked at their expressions.

"Savron." Cynder whispered, her voice deadly calm. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I..." Savron whimpered, at a loss for words, her voice sending chills up his spine.

"Answer her, Savron." Spyro snarled, his expression uncompromising.

"I... We uh..." Savron gulped, for the first time in his life, unable to think of what to say.

Cynder grimaced. "You wanted to **help**, didn't you?"

Savron nodded weakly, his eyes downcast.

Cynder snorted, disgusted. "Come with me." She turned to look at the others of the group. "You too!"

Savron looked up at his father pleadingly, but flinched when he saw the cold, disapproving gaze the purple dragon cast upon him. Savron turned to follow after his mother, slumping in defeat. Cynder turned and took off, rising into the air, and landing a short distance away, atop a tall building. Savron, Igneous, Tirren and the others landed along beside her, and looked to the black dragon. Cynder gestured to the scene before her. Pillars of smoke rose into the afternoon sky, burned shells of buildings were scattered around broken streets, filled with mounds of the dead and dying. Wails and moans of agony and sorrow filled the air, accompanying the smell of smoke and burned flesh. The clash of weapons still sounded faintly in the distance, occasionally pierced by a deathly scream. Mournful cries filled the air as families found the bodies of their loved ones, broken and torn amidst the carnage.

The young dragons stared at the sight, their eyes widening in horror as they viewed the aftermath of the battle.

"This is what you wanted so badly to **help** accomplish." Cynder spat, turning to face the students, her eyes cold and hard as the heart of a glacier. "This is the world we wanted to keep you from. There is no glory or honour here, only sorrow, and pain, and death." Cynder turned her back on the group, and spread her wings for flight. "Revel in it." The black dragoness leaped from the building, and glided down to stand beside her mate. She sighed, and shook her head.

"Inferna." Cynder whispered, her voice hollow and empty. "Take them back to our tent. We can deal with them after we've settled everything here."

The Guardianess of Flame nodded, and soared up to the top of the building, and landed beside the group of dragons.

"Come with me." Inferna commanded, looking down at the young dragons. They looked up at Inferna, staring blankly for a moment, before nodding. Inferna took off once more, this time with the students in tow. They flew quickly over the city, the Guardian occasionally glancing back to make sure they were still following her. The students however, could only stare at the death below them, eyes strained and filled with horror.

Inferna sighed as they landed at Spyro's and Cynder's tent, and turned back to look at the group.

"I can't believe you." She muttered, shaking her head. "I thought you were all more sensible than this, especially you Danrah! Surely you know how important you are to the relationship between our kingdom, and yours! you would risk that for this!"

Danrah shrunk, quivering shamefully as Inferna glared at her.

"And don't even get me started on you two, Igneous, Tirren!"

The pair flinched as they were called out.

"I would expect such rash behaviour from Savron, but you two? It's just..." Inferna sighed and shook her head. "Whatever, you'll all get your lectures when the others get back. I'll just leave you to think about what you've done." The Guardian of Fire sighed and turned away. "I'm just glad that Lyrith wasn't foolish enough to go along with you on this ridiculous escapade.

Savron frowned, and looked up at Inferna, puzzled. "But... Lyrith came with us." He murmured, looking over his shoulder. "Right Lyr..."

The white dragon was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

"Dammit!" Lyrith hissed, ducking a wild swing from a panther, and whirling around, tearing at its legs with his tail blade. "Where the hell did they go!"

The Albino glanced around at the raging battle field around him, looking for any sign of his friends in the melee. He growled as he stepped out of the way of a group of canine soldiers, rushing to the aid of a fallen dragon. The smell of death, smoke and ash clawed at Lyr's senses, but he forced them away, snarling.

"I turn my back for one second, and they vanish! Fuck!" The white dragon spat, leaping past a brawl between some ferans and dragons. The area around Lyrith was littered with broken bodies and moaning wounded, while dozens of small skirmishes raged ferociously over the streets. The tower rose up in the distance, flickering in and out of view behind the clouds of smoke, walls white and pristine.

Lyrith snorted and started towards the tower once more, only to be blocked off by a thickly built panther waving a sword. Lyrith narrowly avoided the attack, and swiped back at the black feline with a clawed paw. The panther caught the blow on his shield, and shoved back, smacking Lyrith across the muzzle. Lyrith hissed in pain and stumbled back, blinking the stars and birds from his vision. The panther crowed his triumph, and swung his sword at the white dragon's neck. Lyrith leapt back, away from the blow, and then ducked under. The panther shouted in surprise and tried to redirect his swing, but was too late to stop the Albino from ramming his head into in his stomach. The panther staggered back, and was promptly crushed by an incoming earth-dragon-made-boulder.

Lyrith sighed once more, this time in relief as the glowing rock cleared a path through the enemy. The white dragon took advantage of his moment of respite, and darted into a broken building to catch his breath. Lyrith sat down amidst the rubble, and panted wearily. He looked around, hoping he might catch sight of his friends among the throng of combatants, but had no luck.

"Dammit, at this rate I'll never catch up to them." Lyrith huffed, shaking his head tiredly. "They must be all the way to the tower by now..."

A sudden scream of terror cut through the air, and Lyrith turned to look out the window. Lyr blinked in shock as a young feran dragonling rushed through an empty courtyard, crying and screaming. Suddenly, a black and red blur shot from the roof tops, and pounced on the dragonling. The dragon smacked the hatchling across the side, sending him tumbling across the courtyard.

"Aw, don't run, I jusht want to play wish you." The dragon laughed, chuckling through the pair of massive fangs that curved out from his muzzle. His black and red hide glistened with blood which blended with the red strips that slashed over his hide. He glided over sleekly to the weeping dragonlet, his barbed tongue darting out to lick his bloodstained fangs. The hatchling cried out, quaking in fear as the bloody dragon approached grinning manically. He hissed and batted at the hatchling again, chuckling as it wept uncontrollably.

Abruptly the blood dragon cried out in shock as a white blur crashed into him, sending him toppling to the ground. Travix rolled quickly to his paws, recovering in a heartbeat, only to be caught across the face by Lyrith's tail. The blood dragon stumbled back, hissing in pain, raising his paw to his face, and finding dark blood seeping from a cut on his cheek.

"Why don't you go pick on someone your own size!" Lyrith hissed, his red eyes narrowed as he faced down the blood dragon, crouched and ready to strike out once more. The feran hatchling glanced between the two, and then bolted into a house. Travix hissed as his prey escaped, and then glowered back over at Lyrith.

His eyes narrowed as he inspected the white drake, and then he grinned.

"I shuppose I can play wish you for a little while too, snowy."

Travix blurred forward, cackling. Lyrith yelped and leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the blood dragon's snapping jaws. The Albino whirled about to face the blood dragon, only to find that Travix had spun around, his tail flicking out at Lyrith's head. A burst of pain, followed by the sound of tweeting birds and fluttering wings filled Lyrith's head, and he crashed to the ground. He shook his head, vision blurry, and rolled out of the way just in time to evade another chomp of blood soaked dragon's fangs.

The blood dragon chuckled as Lyrith regained his paws, and stalked closer, his unarmoured body moving sleekly as he stalked his 'prey'.

"Ah, you're a quick one. Gooood, I wouldn't want thish to end too quickly, that would be boring."

The blood drake shot forward again, but this time Lyrith was ready for the dragon's blinding speed, and swiped out with a strong paw, the instant the blood dragon darted forward. The paw caught Travix across the face, and sent him crashing to the ground. The blood drake skidded hard across the ground, his momentum carrying him into a wall, which he slammed into with enough force to topple it over. Lyrith wasted no time in pouncing on the fallen blood dragon, sensing he would not get an opportunity like this again.

Travix shouted in surprise as Lyrith landed atop him, and jerked around to dislodge the Albino. Lyrith hissed and dug his claws into Travix's limbs, but couldn't get a good enough grip to hold on and was flung across the courtyard. Travix rose to his paws, snarling, and glanced down at the bleeding marks on his forelegs.

"Feishty aren't you? That wash a rather bold move to make againsht me, and one that won't likely work again."

Lyrith groaned and rose to his paws, still shaking from the impact. Travix leered over at him, and then wiped the beading blood off onto his paw. He raised his paw, and contemptuously flicked the blood towards Lyrith, hissing.

Lyrith flinched at the action, and instinctively ducked behind a broken boulder. The blood soared through the air and solidified, cracking into the stone with sharp snaps. The blood left a pattering of holes and cracks across the surface of the wall where Lyrith had stood not moments before. Lyrith stared at the holes in the wall, startled, his eyes wide in shock.

Travix snickered, and looked down at the cuts on his arms. He lifted a claw, and deliberately jabbed it into his left forelegs, dragging it across so that a long, deep cut stretched across his limb. He repeated the action with his other leg, and soon blood was seeping from the self-inflicted cuts, running down his legs in rivulets. But rather than dripping to the ground as they reached his paws, they condensed, coating his claws in a thick, rusty substance that elongated and hardened, forming sheets of blood-like metal over his paws. Travix grinned and raised one of his paws, examining it closely. His paws now closely resembled dark red gauntlets, his long, wicked claws lengthened by the seeping blood into scythe-like blades.

Lyrith stared for a moment in horror as Travix examined his handiwork, and then swallowed hard. Travix chuckled and waved his armoured paws over the wounds on his forelegs. The blood seeping from the cuts abruptly hardened, forming thick scabs over the injuries, ceasing the flow of blood. Travix looked up and grinned at Lyrith's expression. He flexed his blood talons experimentally, and smirked.

"Time to have shome fun."

Travix shot forward, his body little more than a blur, his gait somewhat slowed by his awkward gauntlets. Lyrith avoided the first sweep of the gauntlets, staggering backward as he was forced to all but jump out of the way. The second swing however, caught Lyrith across the shoulder, dark red claws shearing into Lyrith's flesh, stopping at the bone. The white dragon howled and stumbled back, his left foreleg shaking as he struggled to support his own weight.

Travix laughed in glee, and stepped forward again, raising a paw to strike. Lyrith ducked forward, and slammed his helmeted forehead into Travix's chest. Travix gasped in pain, but did not move from his position, instead he leaned forward maw agape. Lyrith jumped back before the deadly fangs could close around his neck and struck back, clawing at the blood dragon's face with his armoured paw. Travix hissed, and took a step back, trying to gain some distance. Lyrith stepped with him and struck out again, his claws raking Travix's chest, drawing blood.

Travix growled, and spat a curse. The blood oozing from his chest abruptly shooting out towards the white dragon. Lyrith rolled to the side, just in time to evade the bloody spikes, and came to his paws, wincing as pain flared up in Lyrith's shoulder.

"Ish that all you can do, shnowy?" Travix laughed, the remaining blood on his face and chest condensing into thin plates of armour, the spikes snapping off from his chest. "Dodge and duck around like a frightened rabbit?"

Travix closed the distance once more and swept his tail at Lyrith, who jumped it, and slashed at the blood dragon with his own. The black and red dragon attempted another snapping bite at the Albino as he landed, but only received a cuff across the head for the effort. The two struck back and forth, Lyrith taking great effort to avoid the blood dragon's lethal claws, all the while striking out at Travix, who made no effort to evade.

Lyrith began to feel despair sinking in as the fight progressed, injuries appearing on both sides. He could now see just how outmatched he was, the blood dragon was superior to him in every aspect. Faster, stronger, magic. Every hit Lyr dealt Travix only furthered the danger, as even his blood was a weapon to be used against Lyrith. The blood dragon only grew stronger as the fight progressed.

"Shit!" Lyrith cursed, a pool of blood below him suddenly forming into blades, spiking up towards him. He jumped out of the way, but one of the blades of blood slashed him across the hind leg, cutting into his thigh. Lyrith was caught halfway through his jump by Travix's tail, and was battered across the courtyard like a toy doll, to be sent crashing into a pile of waste cans.

Lyrith rose to his paws shakily, his body covered in bruises and slashes. Travix panted as well, his body now almost completely armoured in blood. The blood dragon padded over to where Lyrith lay, his stride still strong, despite the amount of blood he has lost. Travix chuckled darkly as Lyr struggled to his paws, hardly able to keep himself from toppling over.

"Ach, you're one tough shnack, aren't you. But thish ish taking too long, I have a purple dragon to kill, sho I'm going to have to end our little play date."

Lyrith's hooded eyes snapped open, and he glanced up at the blood dragon, his expression suddenly filling with horror as what the blood dragon just said sunk in. He steadied himself and, snarling, rushed forward, his claws sweeping towards Travix's face. Travix was faster. The blood drake snatched Lyrith's paw in mid-swing, and whirled around, slamming the white dragon into a wall. Lyrith cried out and crumpled to the cobblestones, curling up in pain. Travix sneered, and sidled up to Lyrith, his monstrous fangs flashing in the light.

"Halt, and identify yourselves!"

Travix glanced over at the speaker, and grinned widely as he spied a small squad of soldiers enter the courtyard. A cheetah lowered her spear as Travix turned to face them and made his way slowly over to them.

"I said halt!" The cheetah commanded, her voice quavering slightly in fear. The dragons and canines at her side lowered themselves into battle positions.

"It'sh not niche to intrerupt shomeone in the middle of their meal." Travix hissed, his eyes gleaming wickedly. "Eshpecially one sho full of life. I shuppose that you'll make decshent appetizers though."

Lyrith watched, sickened and woozy as the blood dragon sped forward, and, faster than the soldiers could shout, tore into them. Blood splattered the walls as the black and red drake ripped the hapless warriors apart. They fought desperately, but couldn't move fast enough to escape with their lives.

Lyrith shut his eyes tightly as their screams filled the air, and slipped his paw into his neck pouch. He pulled out a life crystal shard, and stuffed it into his mouth, swallowing hard. The Albino rose quickly to his paws as his wounds started to close, and staggered over to one of the buildings, hoping to find a safe refuge. He only just made it to the gate of the courtyard when a large rock smashed into Lyrith's side, bowling him over.

"No you don't! I'm not finished wish you yet!"

Lyrith groaned as Travix, soaked in blood, grabbed Lyrith by the tail and dragged the limp white across the ground, throwing him against a crumbling wall with a flick of his paw. Lyrith crashed through it, and collapsed in a heap amidst the rubble, curling up into a ball as pain wracked his body.

"You've put up a good fight, white one." Travix grunted as he moved to stand over the prone white. "But your fight ish over, and to the victor, come the shpoilsh."

Lyrith flipped over on his side, and struck out with a paw. Travix punched Lyrith across the face. Lyrith fell back, his paws shooting up to his muzzle, his eyes watering in pain.

"Feel free to squirm, makesh the blood flow." Travix leered, his claws gripping Lyrith's chain shirt. He tore off with a yank, the chains breaking with sharp pops, exposing Lyrith's silver grey underbelly. Lyrith's eyes widened as Travix held him down, his eyes filled with glee as his raised his long, bloody talons, and drove them into Lyrith's stomach. Lyrith screamed in pain as the long, jagged talons pierced his abdomen, blood spurting from his muzzle in a fountain of red. Travix snickered as Lyrith writhed under him, blood pouring out from his stomach and muzzle as Travix twisted his claws about in Lyrith, widening the hole.

"Yesh, go on, shcream. Shcream for me." Travix hissed, his tongue flickering out to lap at the blood staining the white's scales. Lyrith shuddered at the feeling of Travix's barbed tongue against him, tensing as darkness started to encroach upon his vision. Travix grinned, and leaned forward, his jaws widening as they came towards Lyrith's neck, saliva dripping from the massive fangs.

A great rumble shook the city, and Travix stopped, confused. He glanced around, and stopped, his eyes widening in surprise. Lyrith faintly heard the sounds of shocked cries and cheers which accompanied the sound, and could just see from the fading corners of his eyes the spire crumbling in the distance. Travix stared at the tower stupidly for a moment, forgetting all about Lyrith.

Sudden, primal rage filled Lyrith as the predator above him lowered his guard, his grip on the white dragon slackening for just a moment. Still blinded by pain, the wound in his abdomen pumping blood, Lyrith reached out and grabbed a pawful of sand from the earth, and threw the sand into the distracted blood dragon's face. Travix roared in surprise, letting go of Lyrith, and clutching at his face, trying to get the sand out of his eyes with his awkward, blood armoured paws. Lyrith, growling reached up and grabbed Travix by the throat. The blood dragon choked, and tried to wrench himself free of Lyrith's grip, but to his shock found he could not. Lyrith heaved himself up, and flipped the blood drake on his back, Lyrith's red eyes burning with feral intensity.

Travix choked and gagged as Lyrith applied more pressure, his paws pushing down hard on his neck. Travix lashed up with his talons and raked the white dragon, leaving long, bloody gashes. Lyrith ignored the pain, the agony from his abdomen already wracking his frame, and held firm. The white dragon ground his fangs in effort, blood dribbling from between his fangs as he strained his body against the blood dragon, holding the monster still as he throttled him. His vision slowly grew dark as blood poured from Lyr's many injuries, but he never let his grip slacken.

Travix writhed beneath Lyrith, desperately trying to draw breath, his eyes flickered from side to side, in the hope of finding something, anything to free himself. His eyes stopped off to Lyrith's left, and a grin creept over his features. Lyrith saw the smirk, and turned to look at what Travix was staring at.

A flash of light, followed by a crack of thunder tore through the din of battle, and searing agony exploded through Lyrith as a bolt of lightning slammed into his flank. Lyrith howled in pain and toppled off of Travix, landing on the ground beside him. His body spasmed erratically, muscles seizing as electricity coursed through him. Lyrith could faintly hear himself screaming in torment, the smell of burnt flesh filling his world, darkness rapidly closing on his vision.

To his side Travix rose, staggering away as he clutched at his throat, gasping for breath. A cloaked figure stepped up to Lyrith's side, and planted his staff down beside Lyr's head. Jaxar gazed down at Lyrith, his deep, sunken eyes burning. He glanced from Lyrith's face, up to the crystal atop his staff, which blazed with a radiant incandescence, shedding purple light over the entire courtyard.

Through a tunnel of blackness, Lyrith dimly saw Jaxar grin, and look back down at Lyrith, raising his staff up high. He brought the butt of his staff down with a jerk, and pain flashed through Lyrith's head. Then, oblivion claimed him.

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's Gang: (Savron, Lyrith, Tirren, Igneous, Voltlyn, Vash, Danrah, Sleet, Typhous.)

Inferna.

Jaxar, Travix, Ramolous.

Well... I hope you guys don't mind me leaving you all hanging off of a cliff ledge with only a couple fingers to support you. }:D

*Ahem* Anyway, you all finally get to see some real action on the part of Spyro, Cynder and the baddies. Looks like Sav's plan didn't work out like he had hoped, in fact, he probably just made things worse. :P

This was my first real battle scene (Chapter 21 withstanding), and I hope it came off alright. This one took a hell of a long time to finish, and even now I feel like the first couple scenes aren't up to par. :S Especially Savron's monologue at the beginning.

So, this is where things will start taking a turn down the actual path Dark Legacy (the series) is heading. It'll take a long while to get to the point where everything comes together, and there's still a lot left to build on in the plot, enough to fill another book or two. xD Anyway, this was a chapter I was looking forward to, not because anything super important happens (if you think what happened here is big, then chapter 26 will blow your socks off. :P ) but because I've had this chapter in my mind for ages, and I've been so excited to get here.

There's also going to be another gap between this chapter and the next, mostly due to the fact that I've been having trouble keeping up with my rough copies again. I'll need to get a couple done before I can feel comfortable getting back to work on the present chapters, plus I'll be going through the current ones I've put out for errors and typos. Hopefully looking through my story will motivate me once again, and I'll be back on a roll. =P

Anyway, thanks for listening to me rant, it's really nice to get to talk about my opinions on my story, and some of the problems I face. And now that that's done, time to take my leave and enjoy the torment I have caused. ;)


	26. Exposure

Chapter 26. Exposure

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple, or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. This chapter is too serious for a disclaimer joke, so I'll have to postpone the clown-nose spaghetti camel event for another time. Sorry everybody you can go back home for now! *Ahem* Anyways: A good number of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

**Warning:** To all ye, my faithful readers, know that you are **not** prepared for the contents of this chapter. You **will** be sickened, and you **will** be disturbed. If you ever wondered why this story was rated Mature, you will know by the end of this chapter. If the contents of this chapter do not affect you in any way, seek help **immediately**, your next killing spree may occur at any moment...

The sky filled with dark, choking smoke as the battle raging in the twining streets of Dellberie died away. The fading fires crackled as Voltlyn bound down the rubble strewn streets, her heart heavy with dread. Healers wandered through the streets around her, accompanied by a pawful of soldiers tending to the wounded, both on their side and the Ferans'. Voltlyn dodged around a pool of dark, sticky blood and came to a stop by one of the groups of physicians, panting.

"Have you seen a white dragon?" She asked one of the healers, fidgeting anxiously. "He's small, just a little shorter than me. He's thin, with scars all over, red eyes and eight horns."

The healers paused for a moment in what they were doing and looked to her, expressions puzzled. Voltlyn slumped as they each shook their heads in turn.

"I'm sorry, but we have not seen a dragon like that." The nearest healer, a black canine murmured apologetically. Voltlyn nodded grimly, sighing.

"Thank you." She whispered, disheartened, plodding along back down the street, her ocean blue eyes downcast. She slowed her rapid pace as a cough sounded behind her..

"Miss, it is almost time for you to return to the camp." Her guard, a green earth dragon, said as he strode alongside her, casting Voltlyn a concerned glance.

Voltlyn turned to face him, and shook her head. "Not yet, I can't stop yet."

"But miss!" The soldier insisted, earnestly. "Lady Cynder's instructions were clear. One hour of searching, no later than that."

"But I can't stop, not now. What if he's lying out there somewhere, hurt, with nobody to tend to him, how could I..."

"You cannot take this burden all on your own." The guard murmured, coming to a halt and putting a paw on her shoulder, she shrugged it off, but stopped as well. "And surely you alone can't be the only one to find him. Someone else might have and may have brought him back to camp. Maybe one of your other friends found him? Maybe he's in the infirmary already, and is waiting there for you there?"

Voltlyn let out a long sigh, and then reluctantly nodded. "Alright." She squeaked, turning to face the green dragon. "Take me back then."

The soldier smiled, his youthful face sympathetic. "Alright, and don't fret, I'm sure your friend will be alright."

Voltlyn smiled wanly back at him, attempting to force herself to be optimistic. They turned back the way they had come and made their slow way back, Voltlyn occasionally forcing them to take detours when flashes of white caught her eye.

The camp was a buzz of activity when the pair returned, soldiers and healers swarming around like a disturbed nest of insects. Just outside the camp, a crowd of Feran and Panther refugees marched passed, leaving the city as the army occupied it. Voltlyn and her body guard were forced to take flight into the crowded skies in order to make it to the Guardians' tents, and somehow managed to land despite the crowd of officers waiting outside the tent flaps. The officers glared at the pair as they were permitted entry, some shouting angrily at the guards, frustrated to be bared entry while the children were permitted in.

Voltlyn sighed as she entered, and looked around. Savron sat despondently on the edge of his mother's and father's bed, playing with the beads that dangled off the edges of the cushions. Igneous sat beside him, idly flipping through a book he had found on the desk on the opposite side of the tent. Sleet, Typhous, and Danrah all sat in a corner, Vash brooding in silence across from them as the three chatted in muted tones. They all glanced up as Voltlyn entered the room, their expressions apprehensive.

"Did you find him?" They all asked in unison, eyes bright with hope. Voltlyn's heart fell at their reaction, and she shook her head. The entire room slumped, with the sole exception of Vash who just looked on, his expression oddly desolate.

"I guess that means we just have to wait for Tirren to get back." Savron sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, I'm sure someone will find him." Inferna murmured sadly, approaching the group from where she and Cyril had been talking on the far end of the tent. "I had Tirren go to the clinic tent, to wait and see if Lyrith is brought in."

Inferna glanced over at the green dragon guard fidgeted at the entrance of the tent, and nodded to him. "You may take your leave, soldier."

The earth dragon bowed, and left the tent, returning to his duties.

Inferna sighed, turning to look away, eyes distant. "I hope he's alright."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Inferna." Cyril prompted from the back of the tent. "He's tough, even if he's an Albino, I'm sure he'll have made it through. He has the blood of an ice dragon somewhere in his linage, I assure you."

"Thanks, Cyril." Inferna replied, a small smile creasing her grim face. "That was a very moving sentiment."

Cyril puffed up proudly and Inferna had to force herself not to roll her eyes sarcastically. The tent flap brushed open, and Tirren stepped in, Cynder and Spyro at her back. Everyone looked expectantly at the green dragoness, waiting with baited breath for her report.

Tirren swallowed, and shook her head.

Everyones' faces crumpled, hope fleeing from their eyes. Tirren closed her eyes sadly and shuffled into the tent, taking a seat beside Igneous. Spyro and Cynder followed her in, and looked around the crowded tent.

"I hope you're all proud of yourselves." Cynder sighed, directing her comment to her son and his friends. "Your rash actions not only put your own lives in danger, but may very well have gotten your friend killed as well."

Everyone in the room flinched at her flinty tone and Savron's face, already pale, grew deathly white.

"Cynder! Isn't that a little harsh!" Cyril hissed, his expression firm. "They're only children after all, we can't expect..."

"By disobeying our wishes, and coming to this war of their own volition, they're declaring themselves to be adults." Cynder snapped, glaring over at Cyril. "And as such, we will treat them like adults. They must be taught the consequences of their actions." Cynder moved over to Savron, and glowered down at him, her face dark. "What do you have to say for yourself, hm? What excuse will you give to try and weasel your way out of this, Savron?"

Savron said nothing, his expression shamed and disheartened. Cynder waited a moment, and then snorted in satisfaction.

"Now maybe you'll finally learn how to smarten up, it's unfortunate that it may have come at such a high price." Cynder turned back to Spyro, and sighed. "Let's go, we have a war meeting to attend to."

Spyro nodded and glanced over to the students as he and the Guardians moved towards the tent flap, his amethyst eyes saddened. Then, he turned away, and exited the tent. Cynder stopped, letting her mate and the other Guardians pass her, and turned back to the students.

"You will not be leaving this tent until we return. Once we do, we'll set you all up with your own tents. You will remain in them for the remainder of this 'war,' and will, under no circumstance take part in any of the battles. Understood?"

The young dragons nodded. Cynder grunted and departed, stamping out of the tent.

The black dragoness sighed disparagingly as she caught up with her compatriots, and together they pushed through the crowds towards the central canopy of the war tent.

"Do you think I was too hard on them?" Cynder asked the purple dragon, her beaked face weary, all fierceness leaving her in an instant.

Spyro shook his head slowly. "No, I don't. You were right about what you said, they came here on their own free will, acting as adults, so they must accept the consequences like an adult. No more side stepping or concealing the truth from them like they were children."

Inferna and Cyril nodded in agreement, their expressions grave. Cynder looked between them, not entirely convinced. They fell into an awkward silence for a few moments, none sure what to say next.

"Is something the matter, Inferna?" Spyro asked the red and yellow dragoness, concerned, noticing her despondent expression.

Inferna glanced up, and sighed. "It's just... I can't stop worrying about him. Nobody knows where he is, and I can't help but fear the worst. I don't know what I would do if he came up..."

"Don't worry Inferna, I'm sure he'll be alright." Spyro said, comfortingly as he opened the flap to the war tent. "It's only a matter of time."

Inferna nodded slowly, eyes downcast, unable to reply.

The four entered the tent, and took their positions at the large, circular table in the center of the tent. Terrador and Pyron nodded their greetings to each as they took their places, their thick plate armour gleaming dully in the light, dried splotches of blood spattered over the glossy metal. Prowlus and Cyrine sat on chairs across from the dragons and the Cheetah and Hawk nodded as they took their seats on the cushions laid out for them.

"It is good to see you're alive, Spyro, Cynder." Pyron murmured, his dry voice resonating, even in the cloth confines of the tent. "I heard that you dealt with a Behemoth on our behalf, that is quite the feat."

"It wasn't easy," Spyro chuckled humourlessly, reaching up and touching his right wing with a paw, flinching as it throbbed painfully. "and we didn't exactly come out unharmed."

Pyron shrugged, a smirk creasing his stout muzzle. "Regardless, it is something worthy of commemorating. You saved countless lives by burying the beast, even if you had to destroy the Tower of Arganzark in order to achieve it."

"Where is Diatrax and Albiard?" Cynder asked, looking around the war tent for the missing two monarchs. "I thought they'd be here..."

"Albiard is out organizing the soldiers in occupying the city." Prowlus grunted, spearing a morsal of meat with a knife, and bringing it up to his mouth. "As for Diatrax, he's..."

"Back from listening to all the pompous capt'ns whine." The wolf king grunted, throwing open the flap to the tent and storming in. "And it was not a pleasant duty, I can tell you that. Ach, think I g't a migraine just waiting to happen." The wolf threw himself onto his chair, landing on an angle so his legs were lying across the arms of the chair.

"Were any of them as important as the captains claimed?" Cyrine clucked, his sharp eyes boring into Diatrax. The wolf snorted and sneered, his one good eye gleaming.

"Mostly j'st reports on casualties, and supplies lost and captured. The sorts of things that are as pleasant to read as a tax bill. Though a coople of the little reports caught my attention." Diatrax drew out an envelope, and tossed it down on the table.

"And what might be so important about these 'little' reports?" Pyron grunted, taking the envelop and opening it.

Diatrax snorted, rolling his eyes, picking a crumb of food from between his fangs. "Read page three."

Pyron flipped to the third page of the folder, and all of the Guardians leaned forward to examine it.

"It's a report from a minor officer assigned to assault the siege weapons on walls." Diatrax grunted, unceremoniously rubbing his hands on his vest.

"Defense minimal, guarded by barely two dozen soldiers, most of which were no older than recruiting age. Next to no experience in combat and defensive tactics, were taken with no casualties on our part." Pyron read aloud, his expression darkening.

"Don't sound like a normal assault on siege engines, does it?" Diatrax commented wryly, glancing around the tent, his eye burning.

"No. Normally such an asset would be heavily guarded." Terrador grunted, eyeing the papers.

"It gits even stranger, as I'm sure all of yah noticed, the archer positions were all well within the walls."

"Yes, they were clearly poorly placed."

"Aye, but each squad was also placed on short, easily accessed buildings, with hardly any fortifications."

"That doesn't sound right..." Inferna muttered, her frown deepening.

"Most of the other major locations were also poorly defended, almost entirely with recruits and civilians. All of the veteran warriors were positioned well out of the way of the vital areas, where they were easily trapped and wiped out."

"This doesn't make any sense." Prowlus growled, snatching the envelop from Pyron's paws and glaring down at the paper. "What kind of incompetent commander would distribute their forces so foolishly?"

"No, not even an incompetent commander would place his forces so recklessly." Terrador grunted, plucking the map of the city from the folder and spreading it out on the table. Dozens of markings covered the map, each marking a spot where the ferans had been placed. "Even an inept commander would have had some kind of logical organization to their forces. Forces on the walls, heavier guards with the siege engines, reinforcements to back up the major locations, things even an imbecile would not overlook." Terrador gestured over the map, and everyone leaned over to examine it. "Look at the placement of these soldiers. There's no pattern to it at all, no reason and no sense. There are wide gaps between the soldier's positioning, with many of them clustered together in areas that we could slip around them and catch them from multiple sides. No commander, no matter how idiotic, would be this daft in defending a stronghold. It's almost as if..."

"As if they wanted us to take the city." Pyron finished for Terrador, shaking his head. "It's almost blatantly bad, as if everything was placed there for a purpose, creating the worst possible situation for their soldiers."

"But why would anyone purposefully sabotage their own defenses?" Cynder demanded incredulously. "It's just... Irrational."

"Do you think that it's possible that the one doing this is on our side?" Cyrine asked, cocking his head and staring through his spectacles at the Guardians and Monarchs.

Diatrax shook his head. "Nay, because it would have been the same commander who ordered the soldiers to attack us the moment we arrived. Something is going on that we don't understand."

Everyone in the tent was silent for a time, contemplating. Then, a slight cough at the entrance caught their attention, and they turned to face the young wind dragon standing nervously at the tent flap.

"What is it?" Pyron sighed, his eyes closing tiredly, expecting another report.

"Uh... K... King Diatrax sent for me... your majesty..." The earth dragon squeaked, swallowing hard. He was barely old enough to be of recruiting age.

"Aye, I did." Diatrax grunted, gesturing for the dragon to enter. The greying canine looked over his shoulder at the figures surrounding the table, and cleared his throat. "This be something that may interest ye. Go on, boy, speak up! Tell them what yah told me!" Diatrax prompted roughly returning his attention back to the young soldier.

The young green dragon swallowed hard and turned to the Guardians sitting at the table stuttering nervously as he tried to arrange his thoughts.

"Uh... D... during the battle my squad and I were h... helping the third battalion push through to the center of the city... w... we were told to break off and go through an alley to flank a large group of soldiers coming from the front. W... while we were moving, we came into an alley where two dragons were f... fighting. This black and red dragon was tossing around a small Albino like a rag doll, and laughing like... like some sort of demon."

The Guardians started at the news, and glanced at each other concerned.

"What did the dragons look like?" Inferna murmured, her voice low as she swallowed back her fears.

Emboldened, the soldier continued. "The white was all beat up, bleeding bad. He was barely putting up a fight anymore. He was small, like I said, with a grey underbelly and blood red eyes, I thought for a moment he was a female, before I got a closer look."

Inferna sighed and shut her eyes tight. "Go on."

"The black dragon wasn't that large either, but he was the most terrifying thing I ever saw! Soaked in blood, with strange bloody gauntlets and patches of armour covering its body. It had the largest fangs I'd ever seen on a dragon."

"A blood dragon?" Cyril whispered, shocked. "I haven't heard of one in years! I had thought they had been hunted to extinction decades ago!"

"Anyway, we came around the alley and our sergeant demanded they stand down, since we didn't know what side they were on. The blood dragon said something about interrupting his meal, and charged us." The grass green, three horned dragon paused, and his gaze fell to the ground guiltily. "I... I panicked and ran, fleeing into a house. When I turned around to see what was happening, my entire squad was dead, torn to shreds. I guess I got lucky and it didn't see me, but everyone... they're all... gone..."

Terrador frowned sympathetically as the dragon stopped, sniffing as the enormity of what happened sunk in. "Please, continue." The Guardian of Stone murmured gently. The warrior looked up, and wiped at his eyes, pulling himself back together.

"I... I hid in the house, watching while the dragon turned back to the white. The Albino had gotten up and was trying to get away, but the black dragon hit him with a rock and dragged him back over to where he had been lying before. He... he..." The solider shivered. "He was going to **eat** him. I couldn't do anything but watch as ... as it stabbed the white in the stomach, and started **drinking** his **blood**. Then... then the tower collapsed! It distracted that monster long enough for the white to get the upper paw, and start choking the beast!"

Some hope returned to Inferna's grim expression, her hazel eyes brightening. "That's Lyrith for you."

"I was going to go out and help him, stomp on that monster's face and punch holes in him with earth spikes, but before I could, **he** came." The soldier paused, shivering, shutting his eyes tight at the memory. "This, horrible purple shadow appeared, bearing purple fire on his staff. He took one look at what was happening, and hurled a bolt of lightning. It... it hit the white dragon in the side and knocked him off."

Spyro and Cynder started, glancing at each other with wide eyes.

"He... he was horribly burnt... I can still smell it... And he screamed, oh how he screamed. But that was nothing to what came next. The figure came forward to him, and the purple fire became so bright that I couldn't see, and I had to look away. And it laughed. I wanted to run, to flee from this place and go home, where I could hide under my covers, weeping."

The soldier stopped, unable to continue, tears started to roll down his face as the echoes of the laughter rang through his mind.

Inferna rose and padded over to the stricken soldier, draping a wing over his shoulder.

"It's okay, that fiend is gone." The Guardian of Fire whispered, soothingly. The earth dragon sniffled, nodding. "Can you go on?" Inferna asked, her voice cracking as she forced back her own emotions. "We would very much like to know what happened next."

"I... I don't know." The earth dragon admitted, bowing his head. "He stopped laughing, said something and then the light vanished. When I could finally look back, they were gone. All three of them."

The Guardians glanced at each other worriedly, then, smiling wanly, Terrador turned back to the soldier, and nodded.

"Thank you for this information, it is of... great interest to us."

The warrior nodded, head drooped low to the ground.

Diatrax nodded to the dragon. "Yah may go."

The dragon bowed to the kings, and turned away, trodding solemnly out from the tent. The Guardians watched him leave and then glanced over at Inferna as she took her seat back at the table, her expression growing even more grim.

"So... he was taken captive by that sorcerer, the one who you fought in the tower." Inferna whispered, glancing over at Spyro.

The purple dragon nodded. "It seems that way. He called himself Jaxar and claimed to be the 'advisor' to prince Ramolous."

"Ramolous?" Pyron asked. "I've heard of him. He's a bit of an extremist in the Feran nobility. He was opposed to our treaty from the beginning."

"That makes him a prime suspect then, doesn't it?" Spyro grunted, his lips peeling back, fangs gleaming brightly in the torchlight. "First this wizard comes along and claims to be working for him and tries and kill us. Now we learn he's been opposed to our treaty right from the onset."

"Indeed it does." Pyron affirmed, nodding. "We'll likely have to deal with him when we reach Grasbronda."

"My question, is what this magician wants with Lyrith?" Cyril muttered, tapping the table with a claw. "He's an Albino, a smart one and a fairly good fighter, but an Albino none the less. I can't imagine what he would want with him."

"That is a troubling question." Terrador murmured, stroking the spike jutting from his chin. "Hopefully we can end this war, and find him before whatever he has planned can come to fruition. Pyron, can you ask your captains to keep an eye out for this dragon? We will want to stop whatever this maniac is planning, it could prove dangerous, to us and to our student."

Pyron snorted. "I'll give the captains his description, but we won't go out of our way to search for him. We have more pressing matters to attend to."

Terrador nodded. "Understood."

"Why is that name so familiar?" Cynder whispered, frowning thoughtfully.

"What was that?" Inferna asked the black dragoness, turning to face Cynder. Cynder perked up.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that that wizard's name has been bugging me. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't place where."

The Guardians glanced at each other, skeptically.

"Well, he might have been mentioned during the negotiations." Cyril suggested. "After all, many of the nobles were present during the first stages, so he might have been brought up when Ramolous came up to speak his piece. He might have even been the one to speak on Ramolous's behalf."

Cynder frowned, and then nodded slowly. "Maybe..."

"Regardless, I think it's time we took a break." Cyrine clucked. "A lot has happened in this meeting, and we should probably take sometime to eat dinner in order to digest everything we've learned. We can come back to this this evening."

The occupants of the tent murmured in agreement, and sat up, stretching. The Guardians filed out of the tent, heading back to their own for supper.

"So, Cynder." Inferna murmured solemnly, stepping up to the Guardian of Wind and Shadow as they left the tent. "What should we tell them? How should we tell **them**?"

Cynder sighed. "Let's wait until after we're done eating, then you can tell them. They've already gotten a lecture from me and I'll probably find a way to give them another while telling them the news."

Inferna smirked humourlessly. "That you would, that you would."

* * *

"Ach, I shtill cannot belief you shaved that damned white!" Travix snarled as he and Jaxar padded across the branch-ways of Grasbronda, the palace looming up before them. The blood drake nursed his injured neck, grimacing in pain. "You should haf let me kill him while he wash down, not bring him back here and heal him!

Jaxar chuckled at the blood dragon's grumbling and shook his head. "Ah, you are still sore about your near defeat at his paws, aren't you? I must admit, I have never dreamed an Albino would be capable of overpowering you, especially with such grave injuries."

"He wash **lucky**!" Travix growled furiously, grinding his fangs together as they stepped into the palace. "I had him right up until the end and had I really wanted to, I could haf finished him almost immediately."

"I do not doubt that, Travix." Jaxar said, nodding. "But regardless, this white dragon was able to hold out against you longer than many hardened soldiers. He may be useful to us."

Travix looked over at his mentor, and frowned. "You don't mean to ushe him in your experimentsh, do you? I don't shee what a white dragon could add to our..."

"He will add a great deal to our **research**, Travix." Jaxar rebuked, turning his sunken red-orange gaze upon the blood dragon. Travix did not back down.

"And what, exactly could he provide for your **reshearch**, then?" Travix huffed.

"Yes, I'm wondering the same thing, Jaxar."

The pair glanced up and stopped as Ramolous stepped out into the palace courtyard. The feran prince gazed at the two curiously, his muzzle pulled up into a small smirk.

Jaxar cleared his throat and bowed to the prince, gesturing for Travix to follow suit. The blood dragon bowed reluctantly, never taking his eyes off Ramolous.

"Your majesty." Jaxar murmured as he straightened, his eyes moving up to the prince's, before flicking back down. "We had only just arrived, so how have you come to know we had taken a prisoner?"

Ramolous eyed the sorcerer critically, and then huffed. "I had a number of my soldiers keep a look out for your return, they mentioned the Albino in their report."

"Ah." Jaxar said, nodding. "I see."

"So why don't you answer my question, Jaxar." Ramolous grunted, his eyes narrowing. "For what purpose did you bring the Albino to Grasbronda? I sincerely doubt he'd be any value as a prisoner of war."

"In order to test the effects of the crystals, of course." Jaxar stated, his expression slightly amused.

Ramolous frowned. "I thought you said they were ready for use?"

Jaxar nodded. "Nearly ready, I figured that a few more tests would ensure that there are no side effects. We do not want to have his highness crippled by some unforeseen development. An Albino would be perfect for testing the affects of the crystal, as there would be no magical interference to complicate the results of the testing."

Ramolous nodded slowly. "I see... I see... That makes sense. It is good that you are taking precautions, Jaxar. I am truly grateful for all the work you have done."

Jaxar bowed, flourishing his cloak dramatically.

"I will have the crystal brought down to your lab for testing tomorrow. Hopefully you can have it back to me before the army arrives... Which brings me to the next point," Ramolous looked down at Jaxar seriously as the half-breed rose. "was the assassination successful?"

Jaxar's expression turned tense, and he swallowed. "I'm afraid there were... complications, your majesty."

"I figured as much." Ramolous grunted, snorting. "I hadn't really expected them to die, in fact, I'm almost happy they survived," The prince sneered. "it'll give me a chance at them myself."

Jaxar frowned. "You're majesty hadn't expected I would succeed?"

Ramolous laughed. "No, these are the dragons who slew Malefor twice. You may be powerful and resourceful, but even you would have stood little chance against them."

Jaxar smiled coldly and nodded. "Yes, I suppose you are right, your majesty."

"However, it's going to be different this time." Ramolous chuckled, turning and padding away. Jaxar and Travix glanced at each other, and followed after, keeping pace with the prince. "Once I take in that cyrstal, they will be powerless before me! And I will finally end them and their tyranny once and for all!" Ramolous turned abruptly to face Jaxar. "Was the little purple slain?"

Travix swallowed and started to answer. Ramolous ignored him, and continued look intensely at Jaxar. Travix to stammer to a halt upon seeing the prince's dismissal, and sneered.

Jaxar shook his head. "I'm afraid he eluded us during the battle, my lord."

"Battle?" Ramolous muttered, startled. "What battle? The Dragon Realms were supposed to occupy Delberi with no resistance and you were supposed to target Spyro, Cynder and the brat while their guard was down. There was not supposed to be a battle! What happened!"

"We put up no resistance, as you commanded, but the moment their forces were inside the city, they turned on the people and proceeded to butcher them. They even went so far as to tear down the Tower of Arganzark once they had their way with the people."

Ramolous's expression grew stark. "WHAT!" He bellowed, his stiffened body quivering in rage. "Those... Those foul beasts would do something so monstrous, so evil! I should have suspected! They are incarnations of the Dark Master himself! They **dare** call themselves heroes!"

Ramolous raged for a moment and then spat, shaking his head. "This is only proof of their malevolence and it will go far in convincing the council to follow my lead."

"Indeed, your majesty." Jaxar murmured, nodding as he stepped up to the prince, dusting off his robes. "I suppose a report would be in order. I shall prepare one right away. Duke Aromis was on his way here. He had left Delberi right before the attack. I certainly hope he arrives here safely."

"I can only hope the same." Ramolous hissed, his eyes flashing. "But knowing those **brutes**, they will try to intercept him and kill him." The black maned prince whirled on the sorcerer, who took a step back in surprise. "Send a contingent of soldiers to the duke and have them guide him to safety. His support and knowledge of the battle would be invaluable to our cause. With his account of what happened, my claims will be that much stronger."

Jaxar bowed. "It will be done."

"Excellent, now I'm off to prepare my speech, I will summon you tomorrow to give your report to the council. With any luck we won't have to keep our plans secret much longer."

* * *

Hunter prowled along through the densely packed leaves, high up in the great trees of the jungle, leaping from branch to branch as he made his way back to camp. The shimmering stars peeked through the small gaps in the leaves, peering down at the aged cheetah as he came to a halt at the edge of a clearing. Hunter took a moment to gaze down at the sprawling camp, speckled with hundreds of twinkling firelights, before jumping down, grabbing a thick vine to slow his descent. He dropped down into the tall grass on all fours and then rose, brushing himself off as he made his way into camp. He paused only to straighten his jerkin and lower his hood.

Hunter passed quickly through the troops, skipping past clusters of warriors as he made his way to the war tent. The cheetah nodded to the guards as he passed and slipped inside. The feline warrior was met with a chorus of muttering and grumbling from the assembled kings and Guardians, debating over their map. Off to the side, laying on a flap of canvas, Savron sulked, watching the talking with a dreary, defeated gaze. The Guardians and kings stopped as Hunter entered, bowing, and nodded in his direction.

"What news have you brought us?" Prowlus demanded of Hunter as he straightened, the feline king's eyes cool and hard. Hunter sighed, dropping his bow and moving to take a seat at a stool, before stopping, looking to Prowlus for permission. Prowlus nodded in ascent. Hunter relaxed, and gratefully settled himself on the stool.

"The ferans are in full retreat back to Grasbronda, they completely abandoned the city and everything in it. I tried locating the duke, but I had little success. The only thing I learned of him, was that he had left the city some thirteen hours before we had arrived in a large caravan. I assume he's made it to Grasbronda by now."

The assembly glanced at each other, nodding.

"It's as we thought then." Cynder said, nodding to the other Guardians. "He left long before the battle even started, no doubt leaving that sorcerer in charge."

"That means it's also likely he left all the decisions up to the wizard." Inferna affirmed, nodding thoughtfully. "Which means **he** is responsible for everything that happened during that battle."

"Which zerefore implies zat zah prince is somewhat, if not completely involved in what is happening." Albiard mused, idly tossing his hammer between his small, sturdy hands.

"Aye, it seems to be the case." Diatrax muttered, gazing over the map. "Though that begs the question of why the duke fled when we had sent him a **peace** offering. It is not like we had declared war on them."

The assembly fell silent for a moment, contemplating, and then Pyron spoke up.

"Enough speculation, it is time to make our plans for the coming engagement. **That** is our priority, not debating whether or not some half-breed sabotaged his own forces."

"Indeed, so what is our plan?" Cyrine inquired, gazing about the tent, his sharp eyes searching.

"Judging simply from my visit to Grasbronda several years back," Terrador rumbled, tapping the map. "the city is separated into two layers, one lower and one upper. The lower layer makes up the slums of the city, with next to nothing in terms of defenses. There are only meager walls, rudimentary fortifications and no siege weapons. However, what they lack in defenses, the upper layer makes up for in support." Terrador gestured to the upper region of the city.

"The upper level is situated a considerable hight above the slums and overlooks it entirely. This gives them an overwhelming advantage over us, since they will be capable of launching an attack from anywhere and everywhere. It will also be simple for them to have small squads of archers spread over the upper layer, to rain arrows down on us. We would be helpless against them as they make their own city a deathtrap. This will also destroy our arial forces, as they will be easy prey for the archers." Terrador glanced around at the others, his expression grim.

"All they'd have to do, is launch an attack on our weak points, devastate our troops and then retreat to the upper level while their archers cover them. This is not even considering the advantage they have as denizens of the jungle. They are far more prepared for this kind of warfare than we are and we will be hard pressed to gain any advantage over them."

"Aye." Diatrax agreed, nodding. "And the constant strain from the threat of arrows and ambushes will only exhaust our forces should we actually take the city. Not a favourable situation in the least."

"So, how do we counter this?" Cyril asked, puzzling over the situation at paw. "Doubtless there has to be a way to counter these advantages?"

The kings sat back, pondering while the Guardians glanced at one another, confused as to what to do.

"Why not just build some pyres under their trees, and pretend to light them?" Savron mumbled from off to the side. "They're not stupid, so they'll naturally have to respond."

Everyone turned to stare at the young purple dragon, shocked. Savron's gaze never left the ground as he toyed with the long grass.

"That... that's genius!" Inferna remarked, beaming. "It will force their paw! We can funnel them down to specific locations where we can ambush them! They will have no choice but to respond to the threat of their city burning, whether or not they know it's a trap."

"The pyres will have to be big." Prowlus mused, stroking his chin. "And we will need a lot of them."

"Have the soldiers go out to gather wood immediately!" Pyron ordered, padding from the tent to issue his commands to the messengers outside. "Lots of wood, and make sure it's dry too!"

Cynder turned to face Savron as the kings made preparations for their new course of action, and gave her son a proud smile.

"Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, you coming here."

Savron's head rose, and a good measure of pride welled up in his chest as Spyro ruffled his head with a paw, his two parents grinning down at him.

"Alright, we have our first act planned out, but we will need to work out more if we are to gain zee upper hand." Albiard grunted, slamming the head of his hammer down on the table.

"We will need to outline our plan of ambush." Prowlus murmured, eying the map critically. "And we will need to figure out a way to negate the threat of those arrows."

"Why not use some of those logs we are collecting to build some mobile shelters for the ones lighting the fires?" Cyril suggested. "And then soak them in water so that they cannot catch fire?"

"That could work, but it'll take some time to make them, as well as a great deal of wood to make enough of them to protect all those troops."

Savron lay back down, watching as the assembly brainstormed, jotting down ideas and discussing the merits of each individually. Hours passed before the collection of Guardians and Kings called in for the night, their plan set and ready for mobilization. Spyro and Cynder led Savron back to their tent, the young purple striding between the two as they moved. Savron glanced at his friends' tents as he passed them, wishing he could visit and tell them how his idea made it into the plan to take Grasbronda.

They arrived at their tent, a massive canvas building nearly three times the size of the group tents the foot soldiers were given. The three slipped inside, and Savron padded over to his small bedroll and plopped down, knowing that he was going nowhere tonight.

Spyro and Cynder glanced at each other and then at Savron, before shrugging and making their way to their own bedrolls. Savron gazed over at them as they settled in for the night, occasionally glancing over at him as if to make sure he was still there. Slowly, bit by bit, curiosity started to grow in the young purple, until he could hold it back no more.

"Mom?" Savron murmured, his head rising up to look at the black dragoness, curled up against Spyro's side.

"Yes Sav?" Cynder yawned, blinking tiredly as she glanced back over to her son.

"What... what happened your first egg?"

Cynder started, her emerald eyes flying wide with shock.

"How did! Where did you hear that!" Cynder glanced over to Spyro, horrified, and noticed his guilty expression. "You told him? Why!?"

"Because he deserved to know." Spyro murmured, rolling over to face Cynder. "He deserved to know he wasn't our first."

Cynder glanced between the two purples, her expressions slowly turning from outraged horror and indignation, to sadness. After a long moment, she sighed, nodding.

"I... I suppose you're right, Spyro. He did deserve to know."

"So can you tell me?" Savron asked, excitement peaking.

Cynder glanced over at Savron, expression pained. "I... I don't know..."

"Please mom!" Savron begged, rising to his paws. "You're the one who said I should be treated as an adult, so could you please keep to that promise!"

Cynder hesitated for a moment, and then, finally, nodded. "Fine, I'll tell you."

Savron sighed in relief, and sat down on his haunches as Cynder prepared herself, Spyro gazed at her with concern as she dug down deep for the memory.

...

The wind whistled cheerfully through the towers of the Temple, the midmorning sun beaming down on the lush, green landscape below. At the foot of the cliff, where the Temple was perched, a small, bustling village was under construction. Dozens of houses being constructed in the shadow of the Dragon Temple, with only more being set up as pilgrims arrived.

The skeletons of wooden towers still speckled the Temple grounds, now being torn down with the repairs to the Temple finally finished. Pilgrims from all over the realm moved through the budding gardens that flourished in the protective walls of the Temple, at peace with the world. Inside the Temple, the halls were filled with servants and well dressed dragons, cheerfully chatting about everything that came to mind. Among them, Spyro walked, head held high as he headed to the hatchery. Everyone around him moved out of his way, awed and humbled by the purple hero. Spyro ignored the wide eyed and whispering gawkers as best he could, trying to keep his expression natural in front of all his admirers.

Spyro slipped around a corner, and nodded to the guards standing in front of the hatchery, their large armour clinking as the metal clad dragons stood aside. Spyro pushed open the thick, metal doors, and gazed around, letting his grin break across his face. The hatchery was filled with eggs of all colours, green, blue, red, yellow, even some black eggs were seen here and there among the carefully constructed nests. Small, bronze plates were hammered into the stone pedestals where the eggs were kept, listing names and dates. Dragons stood by their eggs protectively as nurses tended to them, crooning and smiling as their small, round, precious babies were heated and shifted around in their nests.

Spyro's gaze fell upon the black form of Cynder, who stood with the Guardians by a pedestal in the center of the room. Spyro padded over, and nuzzled Cynder as he came to a stop beside her. The black dragoness smirked and nudged him back playfully.

"Is... Is it true?" Spyro murmured, his violet eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I saw it move myself." Cynder grinned, ecstatic.

"Itshouldonlybe anotherweekorsonow." Volteer pipped in, bobbing his head up and down in excitement.

Spyro grinned at the exuberant Guardian and gazed down at the egg nestled into the warm hay. It was a brilliant, pale silver in colour, with faint, barely noticeable gold swirls dancing across its surface. It almost seemed to glow under the flickering light of the torches and for a moment, Spyro thought he saw it twitch.

"Oh, I'm so excited to find out what this fantastic, amazing and wondrous dragon will be able to do!" Volteer exclaimed. "I've never seen an egg like this before! Not in all my years as a Guardian, andI'veseenfivegenerationspass!"

"Stop acting so foolish, Volteer!" Cyril grumbled, rolling his eyes. "You're acting like it's **your** egg. Have some decency and let them be with their egg without your ceaseless prattle and fuss."

Spyro and Cynder chuckled as Volteer turned and threw an irritated retort into the Ice Guardian's face, Terrador rolled his eyes as Cyril replied back with equal venom, and the pair were off bickering once more. Terrador looked over at Spyro hopelessly and the purple dragon shrugged.

"Master Volteer, Master Cyril, would you be so kind as to move so I may tend to the egg?"

The two Guardians blinked and glanced down in surprise as an elderly red dragoness politely coughed, waiting patiently for the pair to move out of her way.

"I apologize, Ms. Merriella." Cyril murmured, bowing. The ruffled pair scooted out of the nurse's way. Merriella glided over to the pedestal, and bowed to Spyro and Cynder.

"My lord, my lady, you wouldn't object if I cleaned the nest, would you?" The crimson red dragoness asked, her six, orange horned head bobbing down in respect. Spyro and Cynder nodded and stepped back, allowing the nurse to gently lift the egg and place it securely in a satchel around her neck. She trotted over to a nearby pedestal and placed the egg gingerly into the soft nest, along side several other eggs. Merriella returned to the Guardians, and shooed them away, her green eyes glittering in amusement as they scattered before her. Then, the fire dragoness turned her eyes to the nest and began removing the straw.

Spyro, Cynder and the Guardians regrouped around the egg once more, grinning as the nurse maid busied herself with replacing the nest with fresher, cleaner straw.

"She really knows what she's doing." Cynder mused, watching Merriella go about her work.

"Indeed, though I'm grateful she came when she did." Inferna murmured, appearing beside the black dragoness. "There's a severe lack of proper nurses who can be trusted with this sort of delicate work."

The Guardians jumped at the Guardian of Flame's arrival and then, once they'd calmed down, nodded in agreement.

"Indeed we are fortunate to have her." Terrador agreed, gruffly. "We may be the Guardians, but we're too old and grizzled to properly handle eggs. Not nearly delicate enough to handle this type of work, especially with this special batch of eggs."

Terrador turned to look at the nest of eggs behind him, and the others glanced around as well. Sitting around the heroes' egg, were four other eggs, each wildly varying in colour. The first, and furthest away from the Heroes' silver egg, was a vibrant blue egg, it's hue misty and glossy, with wavering patters of white slashing through it. The second, and closest to Spyro's and Cynder's egg, was a depthless black with a faint, multi-coloured shimmer when the light hit it at just the right angle. Next to it was a dull, muddy red coloured egg with dark, black-brown splotches covered its shell. The cracks of red twisting between the splotches burned with red hot intensity. The final egg on the pedestal was a washed out blue, with swirling patters of icy white twisting around the egg, a frigid aura emanating from within.

"Yes, five Sub-Element eggs in a single batch.." Volteer sighed, for the millionth time. "This generation will be positively astonishing, amazing, extraordinary even.."

"It's a shame that all but two of these five are orphaned though." Inferna muttered, over Volteer's ranting, gazing over the small cluster of eggs. "The war really took its toll on all of us."

"Luckily they will be able to remain with us for tutelage." Cyril declared, gazing over the misty, fiery, black and frost coloured eggs. "And I feel strong magic from the this one, I know it." The ice dragon touched the last egg, feeling the cool energy radiating off of it. "It may not be a pure ice dragon, but it will be powerful in the ice element none the less, I know in the marrow of my bones."

Merriella glided past the guardians and returned the silvery gold egg to its nest, carefully fluffing up the straw around it. Spyro and Cynder followed after her and nodded their thanks to the maid, who smiled and turned away. Merriella glided past the Guardians and stepped up to the nest the Guardians all stood around and exchanged there straw as well. The dragons watched as the elderly fire dragoness softly nudged each egg in turn as she replaced their nest, lingering slightly longer on the black egg, murmuring something unintelligible. Then, she turned and left the room, heading out for a short break.

"She has always had a fondness for that black egg, hasn't she?" Cynder whispered, half to herself, her emerald eyes turning to stare at the dark, shimmering egg.

"Yes, she does. It was her mistress's egg; she died during the war." Inferna sighed, shaking her head. "Once it was all over, she came here begging for it to be sheltered here, since there was nothing left for them to return to in their homeland. Such a sad story."

The Guardians fell silent for a moment, contemplating how many similar stories they had heard over the months since the end of the Second Resurrection

"Ah yes, I almost forgot." Inferna said, suddenly, her head jerking up as she remembered why she had come. "Pyron just arrived and wishes to speak with all of you as soon as possible."

"Alright, thank you for informing us, Inferna." Terrador grunted, turning to the hatchery door and setting off. "I'll go greet his majesty and get him comfortable. Try not to take too long."

Spyro nodded, his demeanor calm. He glanced over at Cynder as the Guardians took their leave, and smirked. They turned back to their egg, and admired the gleaming silver sheen that radiated off of it. Spyro rested his head on Cynder's shoulder.

"I can't wait until it hatches." He whispered, dreamily.

"I wonder if it'll be a male, or a female?" Cynder replied, blissfully.

"What should we name it?" Spyro murmured, lifting his head to look up at Cynder.

"Hm... I'm not sure, what do you think?"

"Well, if it's a female, why not something like Nurii."

"Maybe... And what about male?"

"Well, I think..."

A sudden crash drowned out Spyro, and everyone jumped in shock. Cynder glanced around the room fearfully, hoping that none of the eggs were harmed. She sighed in relief upon seeing all the eggs safely cradled in their nests. The heroes, the maids and the visiting parents all rushed out the hatchery door, to find one of the guards helping up a fallen serving cheetah. The feline apologized profusely, desperately retrieving the fragments of the dishes that lay shattered on the ground.

Cynder sighed, both relieved and frustrated at the disturbance, and then shook her head, looking back over to her mate.

"Well, I suppose we should get going, they aren't going to wait for us forever."

Spyro nodded, shrugging. "Yeah, I suppose so."

They turned back to their egg and smiled down at it. Cynder leaned forward and nuzzled its lustrous, silver surface, and then padded out of the room. Spyro watched her go, and then gave the egg a soft nudge as well, grinning.

"Don't worry, we'll be back soon."

With that, the purple dragon made his way out of the hatcher, sauntering after his mate, and casting only a short glance backwards as he slid from the room.

...

Cynder rolled over on the massive piled of cushions, yawning tiredly. She blinked and opened her eyes, sniffing as she gazed around the dark room. The moon shone through the curtained window, and through the wafting drapes that shrouded the suspended bed she and Spyro slept upon. Cynder rose, stretching, and meandered tiredly over to the edge of the platform.

"Where yah going, Cyn?" Spyro murmured, blinking as he sat up, yawning widely. Cynder turned back to look at him, and smiled.

"I'm just going to check on the eggs, I'll be right back."

"But it's late, and we've already gone to see it nine times today." Spyro moaned, rolling over on his bed. "Can't it wait until tomorrow? It's not going anywhere."

Cynder sighed. "I'm just going to go see it, to make sure it's alright. I don't want to miss it hatching."

"It won't hatch while we're asleep." Spyro groaned, burying his head into the cushions. "The nurses would send a runner if it was." The purple dragon looked up, and sighed when he saw Cynder's resolute expression. "Fine, I'll keep the bed warm."

Cynder rolled her eyes, and glided down from the bed, landing at the entrance platform, just above the study. She exited the room and hastened through the halls, blinking away her exhaustion as she went. The corridors seemed to blur together in a long, dark mesh as Cynder tiredly padded down the stairs to the next floor, turning off into the hall that led to the Hatchery. The torches flickered lazily, casting deep, pools of shadows around Cynder, their low, orange light gleaming off of her scales.

Cynder yawned again and paused as an odd aroma caught her scent. It was sickeningly sweet, with a foul hint of iron permeating the air. Cynder sniffed again, confused. She recognized the scent, but wasn't sure from where.

A scream rent the air, and Cynder jumped in shock, her surreal exhaustion gone. She pounded down the hall and whipped around a corner, only to grind to a halt, her eyes flying wide in horror. A pair of young cheetah guards were pinned to the wall, impaled with long spikes of ice. Blood pooled on the ground around them. Just beyond the two, a flayed, roasted drake lay, his scales scorched clean from his body and his entrails were splayed across the ground, cooked to a golden brown.

Cynder felt bile rise in her throat and she just managed to keep herself from retching up her dinner. The doors to the hatchery were blown wide open and the only thing that remained of the two guards standing duty were the splashes of blood painting the walls, the bone fragments and molten piles of melted metal smoldering on the ground. From within the Hatchery, broken sobs tore at the dead air.

Cynder bolted to the door, and stopped, shaking. The hatchery was splattered with blood and yolk, brightly coloured shell fragments sticking to the walls like confetti. Albumen dripped through the nests, the floor flooded with egg white. Floating in the sea of death, small, half formed shapes bobbed, bloody and smashed, unrecognizable masses of flesh and blood. In the middle of it all, Merriella sat, weeping over the nest where her mistress's egg had been kept. Nothing remained of the nest, only pieces of shell and yolk.

Cynder's stomach roiled, and, unable to hold herself back, was sick all over the floor. She wiped her muzzle, filled with a sense of utter horror at the sight before her. A sudden terror struck at her heart and she looked to the very center of the room, her eyes falling upon the empty pedestal that her egg had used to sit upon. Albumen dripped down it and bloody gore was splattered down the stone, mixing in with the egg yolk.

Cynder's heart stopped. Nothing came to her muzzle as she stared at the empty place her egg had been, the stench of the death filling her senses. A deep, empty nothingness filled her, and flashes of shadow creeped over her. Her vision swam as tears forced their way into her eyes, and she let out a short, broken sob.

"No." She whispered, shaking her head. "This... This can't be happening... This is a dream... A terrible, terrible dream..."

Cynder took a step into the room and flinched as the warm, slick fluid splashed over her paw. Nasuea sent her reeling back, and she stared down at her shining paw in horror.

Cynder screamed. Tears flooded down her face as she flung herself into the room, ignoring the gore as she splashed through the tide of death, trying not to empty her stomach into the defiled remains of the unborn dragons. She moved to the pedestal, and desperately searched for any sign of the egg, her world spinning.

Distantly, Cynder heard shouts of shock and horror from the entrance of the hatchery, but she paid no mind to them as she frantically scoured the area for her egg. Cynder felt a paw grip her shoulder, and she pushed it away, her breathing labored.

"Come on, Cyn." A voice, strained whispered to the black dragoness. "Let's go and get you cleaned up."

"No." Cynder whimpered, pulling away. "NO! My egg is in there! We can't leave it! Please! Please!"

Spyro pulled her close, tears streaming down his face as he held her still, the Guardians rushing past to pull Merriella out of the room, weeping and wailing. Spyro led Cynder away as she sobbed into his shoulder, fangs gritted together as he stared ahead, refusing to look back at the hatchery. Guards rushed past them to break up the growing crowd of weeping parents, making room for a squad of sickened, mop bearing servants. The parents wailed as they were led off, trying to shove past the guards to run into the room, as the doors creaked slowly shut behind the servants, the smell of death drenching the Dragon Temple.

...

Savron sat, stunned as Cynder finished, hiccuping, beating back tears. Spyro lay beside her, whispering calming words into her earfrill, holding her tightly.

Savron tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. His chest aching, Savron rose an padded over to Cynder, laying down next to her comfortingly. Cynder sniffed, and nuzzled his head in thanks.

"Did... did they ever catch the one responsible?" Savron asked, hesitantly.

"No." Spyro answered, his fangs grinding together at the memory. "They found nothing. Nothing except a trail of bodies leading in and out of the Temple. Whoever did it wasn't trying to be subtle about it."

"As subtle as **murdering** the unborn can be." Cynder spat, fangs bared ferociously.

Spyro nodded in agreement, scowling. Savron glanced between the two of them, disheartened.

"I'm sorry I brought this up." The young purple sighed, looking away. "I probably shouldn't have..."

"No, you were right, you deserved to know."

Savron nodded sadly, gazing at the floor.

Cynder looked up at her son, and smiled weakly. Leaning over, she gave him a fond nuzzle, and licked his cheek.

"I'm sorry if I'm hard on you sometimes, but I just can't stand the thought of losing you. I only want what's best for you and sometimes it makes me go a little crazy."

Savron grinned, pushing Cynder's head away lightly with a paw. "I know mom, I know."

* * *

_"Please! Let me out!" Lyrith wept, clawing at the closet door, his tiny paws scraping uselessly against the hard wood, tears filling his red eyes. From behind the door, the bullies laughed, chuckling at the Albino's sobs of despair as they flipped the latch shut, locking the door._

_"And why would we do that, when it took so much effort to get you in there, runt!" Laughed the leader of the bullies. "I think you should take a nice little nap in there for a while, cool off from all the work Mother had you do."_

_"Yeah, aren't we so nice, you don't have to worry about all those back breaking chores now, leave them to real dragons, like us."_

_"P... Please," The small white dragonling whimpered, rubbing at his eyes. "Let me out!"_

The dragons on the other side of the door just laughed, and turned away, their paw steps slowly fading away, leaving Lyrith in the dark of the closet. His muffled, weak cries echoing through the empty halls, barely heard through the thick planks of the door as they grew weaker, and weaker...

Lyrith jerked up, his eyes wide. He glanced frantically around the room, trying to determine his surroundings, only to find impenetrable darkness surrounding him. He felt his heart clench and he stumbled to his paws and took a slow step forward. The white dragon bumped into a wall. Lyrith's breathing accelerated and he took several steps back, only to feel his rear bump against another wall. An agonizing thirst swept over him and he clutched at his throat. Lyr felt around for the leaky closet pipe he had used to sustain himself, only to find it was gone.

"Where am I?" Lyrith shivered, looking around. He listened, hoping to hear the sound of someone passing by the closet, for him to call out to, but there was no sound. "Is anyone out there?" Lyrith shouted, banging on the door. The white dragon flinched as his paws smashed into the metal doors, spikes of pain stabbing into him. Lyrith blinked, he had been sure the door was made of wood.

"Ah shut it!" A gruff, angry voice spat from behind the door, and Lyrith jerked back, his heart leaping. Then, a sudden cold swept through him as the slider on the door slid open and a panther glared through. Sudden confusion swelled up in Lyrith as the light pierced his eyes and then flooded away as memories resurfaced from under the cloud of fear. The Temple. The journey to Dellberie. The battle. The blood dragon. The Sorcerer.

Lyrith crouched, eyes flickering from side to side, seeing his surroundings for the first time. He was locked in a small cell of stone bricks. A thick, iron door was barred shut, with a tiny slot to look through. Moss grew along the stone walls and creeped across the floor and ceiling, droplets of water pattering on the ground in a bucket in the corner. Judging from the smell emanating from the bucket, Lyrith could tell it hadn't been cleaned since it was last used.

The panther grunted, satisfied that the prisoner was finished and slid the slot shut once more, leaving Lyrith in darkness. Lyr was still for a moment, a shiver running down his spine as he realized what had happened and then slowly sat, his gaze falling to the floor, searching the darkness blankly. The white dragon took long, deep breaths, combatting the cold vice of terror filling him, his mind racing trying to understand why he was still alive and locked away in the enemy prison to boot. A strange thought crossed his mind and he glanced down at his body, and blinked as he felt himself over.

"Why am I not injured?" He murmured to himself, feeling himself over, trying to find some sign of a wound. "The last thing I remember, I was cooked and cut open like a turkey dinner. How am I...?"

A sudden rustled of sound drew the white dragon's attention and he glanced up, his red eyes blazing. He heard the grunt of the guard outside, followed by the rattle of a key in the lock. Lyrith steadied himself, a low growl emanating from his throat as the door swung open. He started back in shock as Travix stepped through.

"You." Lyrith hissed, his eyes narrowing as he took in the figure of the blood dragon as the it came to a stop by the door. Travix rolled his eyes, snorting.

"Yesh, me. Now if you'd shtop gawking, I'd appreshiate it you came wish me."

Lyrith glared at the drake, his muscles tense, ready to pounce.

Travix glowered at the Albino, standing stiffly at the entrance. "Thish would go eashier if you cooperated."

"What do you want with me?" Lyrith demanded, his red eyes burning. Travix rolled his eyes once more.

"It'sh not like you're in a posishion to ashk queshtions, and it'sh not like I know the anshwers ash it ish. If you want anshwers, then your besht bet would be to come wish me, and see my mashter."

Lyrigh continued to glare at Travix, not moving an inch. Travix grumbled, and shuffled out the door. Half a second later, the panther came in, his sword draw in one hand, a long chain in the other. Travix's head peered in through the door, his expression coy.

"I will giff you thish one lasht chance, Albino, come now or come in chainsh."

Lyrith was silent for a moment and then grunted, cautiously moving forward towards the door. The panther warden sneered and stepped out of the way as the white dragon padded past him. Lyrith came to a halt in front of the blood dragon and glared up at the monsterous drake. Travix huffed, and turned away making his way down the hall. Lyrith followed after, not glancing back as the panther shut the cell and retook his seat beside the door.

Lyrith examined the cold, damp stone hall as they turned a corner, his eyes wandering over the stacks of crates and sacks. A deep, cold anger had replaced the fear and he found his gaze returning to the blood dragon, his muzzle peeling back over his fangs as the memory of their battle returned to him.

They came to a halt at a large iron door, where a pair of drowsy Feran guards stood. Travix coughed impatiently and the pair of guards snapped to attention, quickly opening the door, their gazes fearful. Travix sneered and stepped in, his head raised high. Lyrith hesitated, and then followed the blood dragon in, and flinched as a blinding violet light lanced into his eyes. Lyrith blinked rapidly, and looked up, jumping as the door slammed shut behind him.

"Take a seat." The figure sitting at the table in the center of the room murmured, gesturing Lyrith to come forward. Lyr squinted, slowly adjusting to the brilliance after the darkness of his cell and took a cautious step forward. He stumbled to a halt and stared at the figure, shocked and appalled by what he saw. The figure's disfigured face beamed over to him, his sunken eyes glittering behind the purple hood that shrouded his face.

Jaxar glanced between Lyrith and his staff, where the egg shaped crystal blazed brilliantly. He raised an eye brow, realizing the effect it was having on Lyrith and threw a cloth over it, blanketing its radiance.

Lyrith rubbed at his eyes with his paws and then looked up at the pair, glaring. Jaxar gestured for Lyrith to sit down on the cushion set at the table he and Travix sat at. Lyrith stared at the two suspiciously, jaw set firmly. Jaxar smiled at him, his crooked fangs gleaming yellow in the faint light of his staff.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of harming you, especially not after going to so much trouble to ensure you'd survive."

"Why?" Lyrith growled, his fangs bared.

"Why what?" Jaxar grinned, his eyes twinkling.

"Why did you **save** me?" Lyrith hissed, his eyes flashing. "You had no reason to heal me. Why?"

"Oh I have my reasons." Jaxar chuckled, shaking his head. Lyrith snarled at the sorcerer, flexing his claws angrily.

"You know, you look just like your mother when you do that." Jaxar whispered, cocking his head as he examined the Albino thoughtfully.

Lyrith's muzzle fell open in astonishment, his eyes wide in shock as he stared at the sorcerer.

"What... did you say?" Lyrith asked hesitantly.

Jaxar smiled, and leaned forward onto the table. "Hm? Oh, that you look a lot like your mother? Surprised? You definitely resemble them, though more your mother than your father."

Lyrith stared for a moment, and then plopped down on the cushion indicated.

"You... You **knew** my **parents**?" Lyrith asked, a sudden, strange hope swelling up in him, banishing all else from his mind.

"You could say we're... acquainted." Jaxar said, nodding.

"Who are they? Why did they abandon me? How..."

Jaxar raised his hands, gesturing for Lyrith to cease his sudden explosion of questions.

"Settle down, I'll answer those questions in time, for now how about we introduce ourselves." Jaxar cleared his throat, and brushed down his robes. "I am Jaxar, sorcerer and advisor to the feran prince, Ramolous. This is my apprentice, Travix."

Lyrith looked between them, his jaw clenching momentarily as his gaze fell upon Travix. "I'm Lyrith."

"Lyrith... What a fitting name... Well, I would like to apologize for the rudeness of our first meeting, Lyrith. I was still under the influence of battle frenzy and seeing my apprentice in danger, I acted out as I saw necessary. I only recognized who you were when I got up close. I would also like to apologize for leaving you in that cell. My master was concerned that you might try and cause trouble, so he arranged for the cell."

Lyrith grunted, his expression furrowing in disbelief at the sentiment. Jaxar's grin wavered slightly upon seeing Lyrith's face and he coughed.

"Of course I doubt you'd accept our apology. After what you've been through it's perfectly understandable. Now then, back to business then. I'm sure you're wondering why we saved you."

Lyrith nodded, his expression still cold. Jaxar pushed back his hood and pulled down the front of his robe, revealing a gold circlet bound around his neck.

"You see this? This is a binding necklace, it holds me bound to a certain person, to ensure that I cannot betray their will. It is frequently used on court sorcerers to ensure we don't go... astray."

"And you want it off." Lyrith snorted. "I don't see how I can be of any help then. As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm rather lacking in the magic department."

Jaxar laughed. "Yes to all accounts, but that does not necessarily have to be the case."

Lyrith raised an eyeridge curiously.

"You see, your father was a dragon of great power, respected and even feared by others. It is a shame you did not inherit his powers. But his blood is yours, so it is entirely possible to unlock that potential, with a little help of course."

Lyrith blinked, then his eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you proposing?"

Jaxar coughed, and drew his hood up again. He reached over to the top of his staff and gave the shrouded crystal topping it a twist. The incandescent, egg shaped purple crystal popped off the top of the oak staff, and Jaxar let the rod fall to the ground, placing the covered stone on the table.

"Well, my master has had me working on a crystal that will give him immeasurable power, power enough to destroy even the purple dragons. However, I fear that he intends to be rid of me and my apprentice once he has that power, in order to ensure that the only ones who knew the workings of the crystal would be gone and therefore unable to expose its weaknesses. But, say I gave you its power, instead of my master. From what I've gathered, you were here with the Dragon Realm's army, so surely you wish to repay him for what he did to the Dragon Temple? He was responsible for it after all."

"And in exchange, you'll have me remove the binding charm?" Lyrith guessed, nodding to the now covered circle of gold.

Jaxar nodded jovially, grinning widely. "Yes! Precisely! You gain the power you should have inherited, the one responsible for the war is dead and nobody will ever call you an Albino again. It's a win-win scenario for both of us!"

Lyrith's eyes narrowed, and he stared at Jaxar, no sure what to think.

"There has to be a catch."

"Well... It will be unbearably painful, not to mention that your physique will drastically change, from scale colour, to eye colour to muscle mass..."

Lyrith pursed his muzzle, considering the situation. "That's it?"

"Essentially." Jaxar shrugged. "There may be some other side effects, it is, after all, an experimental crystal."

Lyrith was silent for a moment, his eyes fixed on the covered crystal transfixed by its glow.

"And what of my parents? You said you would tell me about them."

"That I did." Jaxar said, smiling. "I don't doubt you are anxious to learn of them. If you take the crystal, I'll tell you everything you want to know about them. Think of it as a bonus."

Lyrith glanced up at the two, looking between them. Jaxar's expression was pleasant, with a trace of excitement creasing his brow. A hand tugged at his collar, where the necklace wound around his neck. Travix sat still, leaning back on his cushion. His expression was blank, his gaze flickering between his master and Lyr, with the occasional flicker of emotion crossing his face. Lyrith swallowed, and nodded.

"Alright, I'll do it."

Jaxar's grin split his face, revealing his crooked fangs. "Excellent! All you need to do is put your paws on the crystal and clear your mind, the power should flow right into you. Remember, it will be excruciatingly painful, but it won't last too long."

The sorcerer pulled the cloth from the crystal, and all three flinched as the light blazed forth, spiking into their eyes. Lyrith swallowed again, and reached forward tentatively with a claw, his limb shaking in anticipation.

Lyrith's heart pounded a staccato beat, a flood of emotions racing through him, excitement, fear, and hope rising like a tide in his chest. Flashes of memories ripped across his vision, causing the white dragon's fangs to grind together as his claw inched towards the heart of all his dreams.

A small white dragonling, beaten and humiliated, laughed at by the other orphans. Lyrith, staring through a window at a happy family, eating their meal as the snow fell, piling up around the small Albino. Sitting, starving in a closet for days, waiting for someone to remember his existence, sucking on a leaking pipe to sustain himself.

_"I'll show them, I'll show them all."_ Lyrith thought, his eyes blazing, rage filling him. _"I won't be that weak, pathetic Albino ever again. I'll be able to find my parents and show them their mistake in abandoning me! They'll regret leaving me in an orphanage just because they thought I was worthless!"_

Jaxar gripped his staff in both hands, his enthusiastic eyes gleaming as Lyrith's shaking claws neared the stone, the white dragon preparing himself for the pain. Lyrith's claws hovered over the stone and he glanced up at the sorcerer, his eyes skimming over their faces. His eyes widened as they fell upon Travix, who leered at the white, his predatory expression triumphant. The blood dragon's expression changed to eager excitement a moment later, but the damage had been done.

Lyrith's emotion clouded mind cleared, finally recognizing the danger. Snarling, he raised his paw and struck the crystal from the table with a powerful swing. Bolts of dark energy lashed out from the crystal as Lyr's paw came in contact with it, wrapping up his limb and burning into his scales. Lyrith reared back, eyes flying wide, his muzzle opened in a silent "oh" as it burned into him and he collapsed, convulsing.

Jaxar screamed in shock and rage as the crystal flew across the room, and slammed into the wall, falling to the ground with a crack. The sorcerer raced over to it and fell to the ground, desperately checking to make sure it had not damaged. Travix rose and pounced on the white dragon, smashing him in the stomach with a paw. Lyrith, writhing in agonized ecstasy, gasped as his breath left him, his vision darkening as the blazing sensation faded, leaving an odd numbness tingling over his body.

The door burst open, and the feran guards stormed in, they took one look at the blood dragon pinning the Albino to the floor, and hastened to them, chains in paws. They quickly bound the unmoving white and dragged him from the room. Travix glanced over to Jaxar, who had replaced the crystal atop his staff. The half-breed turned and glared at Travix, his eyes cold.

Travix swallowed hard, and followed after the guards, slamming the door behind him.

Lyrith grunted as he was tossed unceremoniously back into his cell, hissing as the chains dug into him. He looked up, dazed as Travix appeared at the door, glowered down at the Albino.

"Maybe a couple daysh in the dark will help you rethink your dechishion." Travix sneered, eyes flashing. "Oh yesh, and here'sh a little gift." The blood dragon produced a sack from beside the door and tossing it in. Lyrith jumped to his paws in horror as the sack split open and a swarm of paw sized red spiders spilled out, skittering frantically on the ground.

Travix laughed at Lyrith's expression and shut the door, leaving the Albino trapped in the darkness. "I don't recomend moving too much, they're skitish... and poisonesh."

...

Jaxar glided out of the room, and down the hall towards his laboratory, one fist clenched around his staff, the other at his side, sparks of electricity arcing across his clenched fist. His red-orange eyes staring coldly out from under his cowl. His staff clunked on the ground with each step, an erie, cold anger emanating from the sorcerer in waves as the crystal's brilliant light slowly faded to a dim glow. He reached the door at the end of the hall, and burst through it, the door slamming into the cellar walls.

A feran messenger looked up from where he sat in the lab, and stood, bowing to the purple clad magician.

"Ah, my lord, Ramolous requests that you..."

Jaxar sneered, and flicked his wrist, hurling a bolt of lightning at the feran. The arc of white lightning struck the feran in the chest, who exploded violently, showering the room with blood and chunks of charred flesh. Jaxar's face was cold and empty as he strode past the pile of gore, that was once the feran messenger. He stopped in the center of his lab and looked around, gazing at the array of potions and vials around him. The cloaked half-breed inhaled deeply, a stiff smile etched onto his face. He casually raised his staff, and tapped its butt to the ground. A blast of force ripped through the room, tearing up the flagstones and shattering the glass jars and vials. The tables were blown back, splintering under the force of the explosion and toppling over. Jaxar grinned humuorlessly at the wreckage he had caused and closed his eyes, his thin form stiff as a board.

"M... Mashter?"

Jaxar turned to face Travix, who anxiously peered into the lab, his eyes wide. Jaxar sneered and raised his hand, gesturing for the blood dragon to come closer. Travix's eyes flew open as he was forcibly dragged across the room by an unseen force He ground to a stop in front of Jaxar, who reached out and gripped Travix by the throat with one hand. The half-breed heaved the fully grown dragon off of the ground and held him there, his face grimly sardonic. Travix gagged, and shook as he was strangled, his tail lashing the ground helplessly. Jaxar snorted at his actions, and tossed Travix away, sending the black and red dragon soaring across the room. Travix hit the wall on the other side of the room with a crash, the stone wall crumbling under the force of the impact. Travix collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain.

"You know, I've been planning for this moment for well over five years." Jaxar said, smiling sweetly as he grabbed the necklace around his neck, and tore it off, hurling it to the ground. "I've worked, studied, prepared, trained our subjects and when we finally get a clean shot at achieving our goals, you break composure and FUCK EVERYTHING UP!"

"I... I'm shorry, mashter!" Travix whispered, covering his head with his paws, desperately trying to shelter himself from the sorcerer's fury. "I... It won't happen again..."

"No, it won't!" Jaxar hissed, whirling to face his apprentice, struggling to contain his fury. "Because the subject has to be **willing** to accept the crystal, it **can't** be **forced** on them! We finally find the **one** dragon who could have accepted its **full** power and you ruin it! Now we will likely have to let that **brat** of a feran use it, and even after years of grooming, only a fraction of it will be able to successfully transfer to him! And with the one **so close**, that seems like hardly a viable option!"

Travix cowering as Jaxar raged, swinging his staff around him, striking out at everything in his reach. Finally, after several minutes of stomping around the room and grumbling, Jaxar took a deep breath, and calmed himself.

"Travix." Jaxar sighed, turning his gaze back to his apprentice. "Go tell the prince that I will be late for his meeting. I need to regain my composure. I am in no state to speak before an audience."

The black and red dragon looked up and nodded, clambering to his paws, grateful for an excuse to escape his master's barely contained rage. Jaxar watched as the dragon raced out of the room, and then turned away. He moved across the ruined room, and pushed away a pile of broken furniture, shifting through the wreckage. He huffed, and stood back, having cleared a space on the floor, revealing a small trapdoor set into the ground. He tapped it with his staff and it lifted open. Jaxar stepped in and glided down the hatch, the door snapping shut after him.

Jaxar landed on the ground, a soft carpet of hay covering the stone ground. The sorcerer dusted his robes off, and laid his staff against the wall, then he looked around, taking in his surroundings.

The room was small, and cramped, racks of tools lining the wall, from hooks, to tweezers. In the center of the room, an oak table was set, a line of bloody, rusted tools were placed along the table edge. Bound on the table, paws in chains, was a small feran dragoness. Her torso had been split open, hooks and strings kept the incision open, so the flesh would not try to seal once more. The feraness's crimson hide had been peeled away and was now stretched out on a tanning rack on the opposite side of the room.

From within a small cell set into the wall, a fully grown feraness lay, weeping softly, streaks running down her face where endless tears had flown. Jaxar clapped his hands together, and glided over to the table and looked down at the skinned and gutted feraness, frowning in disapointment.

"Hm, it appears she died while I was away. A pity."

"YOU MONSTER!" The feraness screamed from behind the bars, rising, her face contorted in horrified fury. "YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO LESSIE AND GORGULLINE! I SWEAR IT! I'LL RIP OUT YOUR HEART AND FEED IT TO YOU THROUGH YOUR..."

Jaxar ignored the mother's screams, and proceeded to unbind the dead feranling, and drag her off the table. He tossed her remains into a small pit and then with a flick of his hand, set her tortured body aflame. The bright flames rapidly ate away the dragonling, leaving nothing but ashes and charred bones. Jaxar swept the ashes into a small pile, and swept it and the bones into a small sack, whistling tunelessly all the while. Once he had finished, Jaxar turned back to the table, and took a rag from a bucket of water, and started to wipe the table down, still whistling.

The feraness's curses had stopped, and she stood, falling to the straw laden floor, sobbing helplessly as Jaxar cleaned the tools, placing them carefully on a tray. Finally finished with his preparations, Jaxar turned back to the cell, and paced forward, a pleasant smile creasing his face.

"Now then, my dear, how are you doing?"

The feraness glowered as he came to a stop, and knelt down to look her in the eyes. She spat in his face.

Jaxar raised a hand, and wiped away the spittle, his expression never changing. "Now now, no need to be so rude."

"Go choke on an ape's spear you mangled foul-born malt worm!"

Jaxar raised an eye brow. "My my, you have spirit." He murmured appreciatively. He rose, and reached over to a table, grabbing a ring of keys. He started shifting through the keys, looking for the right one, muttering as he moved up to the lock. The feraness watched him close in, her eyes dark. Once he was right up against the bars, she snarled and leapt to her paws, releasing a blast of red energy at the sorcerer. Jaxar started as the fear fury hit him and he dropped the keys, taking a step back.

The feraness snatched up the key ring and jingled through it, finding the key to the cell she was in. She had just inserted the key when a sickening snap caught her attention and she glanced up. Her eyes widened with horror as she saw the sorcerer twist his broken finger back into place, not even uttering a sound of pain. He looked up, his face expressionless, the fear fury having been shattered by his self mutilation. She took a step back, shivering in terror as Jaxar reached into the cell, turning the key, which was still in the lock. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The feraness roared and desperately threw herself at him, only to be struck down by a blast of force. She struggled as bonds of air wrapped around her, pinning her limbs to her sides. Jaxar clucked his tongue disapprovingly, and lifted her up by the mane, dragging her out of the cell.

"That was quite the good attempt, at least at first, but you panicked right at the end, ruining it. Had you not struggled and waited until you were out of the cell, you might have been able to strike me down while I was trying to bind you to the table. Unfortunately I'm rather experienced, so even that probably wouldn't have worked, but it would have been your best bet."

He tossed the bound dragoness onto the table and bound her to the table, releasing the binding magic on each limb individually. Jaxar stepped back once he was done, and surveyed his workplace. The feraness struggled against her bonds, spread eagle on the table, wings and legs stretched out uncomfortably to the table edges. The half-breed sighed and wiped away the sweat of exertion beading on his forehead with the hem of his robe, and then turned to the tray, picking out his tools. Jaxar turned back to her with a spade in one hand and a tuning fork in the other, a small, honey-sweet smile creasing his face, his sunken eyes cold and empty.

"Don't struggle too much, my dear, that will only make things much, much worse."

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang: (Savron, Igneous, Typhous, Sleet, Lyrith, Tirren, Danrah, Vash, Voltlyn.)

Jaxar, Travix, Ramolous.

Inferna.

Pyron, Diatrax, Cyrine, Albiard.

Merriella (even though this will be her only appearance in Dark Legacy. xP )

Sorry about how long this chapter took, but with a ton of stressful essays coming in, I simply could not bring myself to work on this chapter. I did actually have it done about a month ago, but it apparently was tangled in some parts and I needed a break so I could take a step back and look it over with a fresher, less stressed mind. Over all I'm glad I did. :P

Well, I guess you can all see why I've said this chapter was so important now, right? There was a lot in there, though the two major scenes (you know which ones) were obviously the most important. This chapter will only be challenged by chapter 30 in terms of importance, though each is important in different ways (I think 30 is slightly more important however. =/ ). Don't worry though, this won't become a theme of my chapters. This chapter will probably be about the worst it gets, at least in terms of visual horror.

Had some trouble with the title. It was originally going to be labeled "Revelations," but I decided against using such a cliched title, despite how well if would have fit the plot of this chapter. Exposure works just as well however, since it also implies the physical element, which is ever so slightly meaningful in this chapter. ;P

Oh, yes, do you remember way back in chapter 24, when I said there was a hidden, subliminal message in the chapter? There wasn't one. xD Sorry to all of you who wasted extensive amounts of time looking for it, but you really shouldn't have taken me seriously. xP

This is a fairly long author's note, isn't it? I'm really just extending it long past the point where it is welcome, like a guest that you invited over, but are tired of now and you want to leave, but are too polite to ask. Like a... okay, now I'm doing it on purpose. x3 Hope you enjoyed the chapter. ^^

**Edit: November 2nd 2012 **

Holy crap. Slevah was right. There were so many typos scattered throughout the later portion of this chapter. :S I'm shocked and appalled by how I was completely incapable of seeing them. Jebers. Well, most of them should be gone now, so at least that was cleared up.


	27. Dedication

Chapter 27. Dedication

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, Warfang or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed below. And remember kids, if you have a problem, stabbing is always the best solution._

_*Smacks Jaxar with a rolled up newspaper* Dammit Jaxar! Get away from the computer! Shoo! Scat!_

_Jaxar: _xD_ *Scurries away*_

The sun blazed over the small town of Genaria and fluffy white clouds drifting through the clear, baby blue sky. Square, squat buildings were aligned in neat rows along the narrow street that wound through their town, intersecting with a small river. A small bazar was set up in the town square, where the majority of the population buzzed, chatting and browsing the wares displayed there. Amidst the buzz, a young red dragon pushed his way through to the other side, standing on his hind legs as he carried a stack of crates, growling as the crowd jostled him to and fro.

"Dammit." The red dragon cursed, his yellow eyes flashing as he nearly lost his balance when a canine backed into him. "Watch it!"

"Sorry." The canine murmured, raising his hands in apology, his floppy ears wagging as he shook his head. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Clearly." The red drake cursed, pushing past the canine. "Now get out of my way, I need to make this delivery."

The canine watched, distraught as the dragon stepped past him, his hind legs wobbling to support his weight as he carried the crates.

"Well I'm sorry you've had such a bad day." The canine mumbled as he turned back, shaking his head.

The bright red dragon made it across the swarm of bodies and relieved, stamped over to a small warehouse, where he placed the crates down. The red dragon set back down on his forepaws, and stumbled over to a water trough, dipping his twin horned head into the water, taking deep gulps. He raised his head, and glanced up at the avian that approached him. She was a flighty, bright blue jay, the dark markings around her eyes giving her an intense gaze. She stood tall on her claws, perched on a crate, standing nearly as tall as the red drake. Her wings were draped along her sides, almost like arms, and she cocked her head towards the bulky fire dragon, raising one of her wings to point to him.

"I see you've brought the last of the shipment."

"Yeah, I'm curious to know what's in it, it's heavy." The dragon snorted, shaking his head, water droplets flying off his muzzle.

"If you weren't just hired muscle, mister Torch, then you'd have the right to know." The bluejay chirped. "Speaking of which, here's your payment for bringing in the last of the crates."

The bluejay extended a pouch of coin with her claws, and Torch snatched it up. He opened the pouch, examining its contents, and grimaced.

"Is something the matter? It is exactly the payment agreed upon."

"I know." Torch snorted, emptying the pouch into his own.

"Then our business together is finished. Have a good day, mister Torch."

Torch snorted in response, and turned away, stepping into the swarm of bodies without another word. Torch's stomach growled achingly as he made his way across the bazar, and he glanced around, catching sight of a small restaurant. He headed towards it. Torch ignored the greeter and sat down at a table, tapping his claws on the wood impatiently. After a few minutes, a serving canine stepped up to the table, carrying a note pad.

"What may I get you, sir?" The Golden retriever asked, drawing out a quill, and dipping it in a small ink pot attached to his notepad.

"Your finest." Torch grunted, his eyes flickering up to the canine, before dismissing him. The canine raised an eyebrow, and then scribbled the order down on the notepad. Torch muttered under his breath as the servant moved off, heading to the kitchen, and glanced around. The restaurant was only sparsely populated, with a few consumers scattered here and there. It was small, with only two rooms: the kitchen and the dinning room.

Torch sighed mournfully, and rested his head on his paws, his eyes distant.

_"I can't believe it has come to this. Forced to work hard labour for a pittance sum, in some backwash town. I haven't eaten properly in **days**, and I can barely get enough sleep, and it's all thanks to that little Heraclene and her Albino rat."_ Torch pounded his paw on the table angrily, drawing looks from the few other patrons in the restaurant. Torch snorted, his gaze cold._ "Now I'm never able to stay long in one place, because father was too much of an **idiot** to listen to his own son. And where am I supposed to go? The blasted lands where all the Apes and Grublins roam around? I would be in one of their cook pots before a week was up. All of the other kingdoms nearby are allied with us, so I can't settle down there..."_

"Here's your meal, sir." The canine grunted, heaving a heavy platter of steak and pork onto the table. Torch glanced down at it, and his lip curled up over his fangs.

"Is there a problem sir?" The serving canine asked, puzzled.

"No, nothing is wrong."

"If you say so, sir." The canine turned away, and took his seat by the door, waiting for the next customer.

Torch grumbled as he proceeded to eat the mediocre food, only able to stomach the garbage due to sheer hunger. The red dragon brooded silently as he ate, a slow snarl creasing his features.

_"How could I have sunk so low as to eat at a filthy restaurant such as **this**! Bah! Mom would gag in disgust if she learned what I've had to scrounge up to survive these past few weeks, and I've see what **she** likes to **eat** when the fancy takes her. Ugh, don't think about **that**, I can barely keep this food down as it is._" Torch sighed, pushing a lump of pork around on the plate, discouraged by how tough and flavourless it was.

_"I can't believe they banished **me** though! **Me**! Is dad really so daft as to think I'm the **only** one to keep slaves in the court? Every other baron in the fucking kingdom must have a couple under toe. Mom even keeps more than a dozen with her at all times! I only had one! **One**! How is that fair? I get banished for having **one** slave, while mom and everyone get to stay in court, while keeping **dozens**? What a disgrace."_ Torch groaned, pushing his plate away from him, having eaten all he could stomach.

_"And who do I have to thank for putting me in this sorry spot? None other than that fucking **lizard**! I can't believe they believed it over me! That sewer rat's word was taken over mine! A dragon from royalty! It just goes to show how weak and corrupt the court is these days, when they would turn on one of their own over a rat's accusation."_

"Are you done, sir?" The serving canine asked, stopping at the table and glancing down at the half finished food.

Torch grunted. "Yeah, could you get it packed for me? I'm going to take it along on the road."

The canine smiled, and nodded. "Of course, sir. I will be right back." The canine swiped up the plate, and stepped back into the kitchen, vanishing from sight.

Torch waited a short moment, glancing around the room for onlookers before rising. He casually stretched, and padded away from the table, whistling a jaunty tune as he left the restaurant. He had only just stepped out of the restaurant, when the canine returned, and found him missing.

"THIEF! THIEF!" The canine bellowed, dropping the packed lunch on the table, and turning to point to Torch, who had just stepped into the crowd. "GUARDS! GUARDS! THIEF!"

Torch groaned and took off, pushing his way through the crowd as the canine shouted, pointing after the red dragon as he hailed the guards. The exiled prince broke through the crowd, and bolted towards the town exit, pushing a slim earth dragoness out of the way. Four armoured dragons saw the fleeing drake, and gave chase, bounding after him, shouting for him to halt. Torch promptly ignored them, and dodged away from a sharp ice blast sent by one of the guards, aimed at his paws.

"Get back here!" One cried, as they slowly gained on the smaller drake.

"You can't run forever!" Another shouted, sneering as they pushed through the crowd after him.

Torch rolled his eyes. "Hopefully I won't need to, dumbass." Torch hissed as he shot out of the town, inhaling sharply as he passed a statue, and blasting a ball of heat at its base. The blast melted clean through the stone of the statue, and it teetered, unbalanced as its base gave away under it. Civilians screamed and scattered as the statue fell, crashing across the town exit.

One of the guards snarled, stopping to help the civilians while the other three continued the cast, taking off after Torch as the red dragon beat his wings and soared away. Torch glanced back at his pursuers, and snorted. He beat his wings as hard as he could as he soared over the flat plains, towards the craggy mountains ahead, his expression strained as he flew as hard and as fast as he could; his life depended on it. The three dragons quickly gained on the young dragon, their wind drake companion speeding them along with powerful gusts of wind.

Torch huffed as they neared, expressions furious as they prepared to subdue the law breaker, only to gasp in shock as Torch flipped over and exhaled a massive cloud of searing smoke into their faces. They choked and gasped for air as they fell from the sky, struggling to regain their breath as superheated smoke filled their lungs, eyes streaming as the ash clogged their sight. Only one of the three guards escaped relatively unscathed: a massive fire dragon. The dragon soared through the burst of smoke, his eyes squeezed shut, breath held tightly in his chest as he slammed into Torch, tackling him out of the air.

Torch gasped as they fell to the earth, struggling against the mighty orange dragon's embrace, kicking and clawing. The fire drake guard opened his eyes, and stared down at Torch, sudden recognition entering his gaze.

"Wait... you're that exiled prince!"

Torch roared in fury and slashed at the guard's eyes, no longer caring if he maimed the hapless drake. The dragon screamed in agony as Torch tore at his face and let go, clutching at his eyes. Torch kicked off, beating hard to regain his balance. He glanced behind him and grimaced, one of the three guards lay broken in the field of grass, no doubt having been unable to balance themselves in time to save her life. The other of the two, the wind dragon was laying in the grass, moaning, clutching at a broken wing, which had probably snapped when he had tried to stop his fall. The red dragon spiraled down, beating his wings as he regained his balance, blood dripping from under his paw as he clutched at his eyes.

A spike of guilt stabbed at Torch as he turned and flew away. "Well shit, I hadn't wanted it to go that far. It's not their fault that they were only doing their job, and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Then Torch banished the feeling of guilt, shaking his head. "Now's not the time to feel sorry for these sods, now's the time to get moving!"

With that, Torch shot forward, flapping his way to the mountains, leaving the wounded guards behind. He landed at the foot of a cave, panting and wheezing. Exhausted, he meandered over to the cave, and stopped, noticing a sign.

_Heraclene's Cave. Warning: To all ye who wish to enter this cave, know that the cave you are about to enter is the site of sins so atrocious that they may not be written here on this sign of warning. Turn back now._

Torch balked, his eyes flickering to the cave, where he noticed a dozen glowing red eyes gazing at him from within the darkness. He decided that another cave would be more suitable for hiding, and took off. He landed at the foot of a cave situated a good league and a half away from the first, and slipped inside.

Torch wandered deeper into the cave, the red dragon breathing a thin stream of flame to dispel the darkness around him. The cave was small, but deep, the air moist and musty. The walls were encrusted with slimy moss, and the causal echo of dripping water reverberated from somewhere in the cave. Torch sat down, letting the flame petter out, exhausted.

Torch lay silently on the ground for a few minutes, lost in his own despair. He racked his brain for what he could do next, where he could go next. He was running out of places to run. This was one of the last towns in the area, with the ocean being only several miles to the east, and the blasted lands being almost directly to the north. Unable to think of anything, Torch snarled and slammed his fist into the ground, trying to vent his building frustration. Once his tantrum boiled down, Torch sighed and rolled over, covering his head with his paws.

"It isn't fair." He mumbled, yawning. "I can't live the rest of my life like this, running from town to town, trying to evade the law and never sleeping in the same spot twice. I can't live eating garbage off the street like some kind of **rat**; my stomach simply can't handle all this peasant food."

Torch sighed, and rubbed at his face, yawning once more. "I suppose I should get some rest, no doubt I'll have to scavenge for food tomorrow, since the guards will be on the lookout for me. Why didn't I take those survival classes when I had the chance?"

* * *

Starlight streamed through the canopy high above, the moon barely a sliver in the skies over Grasbronda. A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the massive trees that supported the great city, causing the branches to creak and groan. Below, in the slums of the metropolis, a dark figure slipped through the muddy, stagnant streets, darting into an alley. The figure came to a halt, pressing himself against the wall of a small, rundown pub where he waited, his deep blue gleaming in the dark. The heavyset dragon waited a moment before he relaxed, and glanced around, taking in the contents of the ally.

Garbage bins lined the filthy walls and a layer of grim covered the floor and the buildings. Huge sewer grates were placed frequently along the alley and street. The dragon flinched as something splashed off of the slanted roof of the building beside him and slid down into the ally, into the sewer. The dragon wrinkled his snout, grimacing in disgust at the waste, and skipped past it.

The dragon padded quickly down the alley, his eyes scanning the roofs above and frequently shifting back to the dark passage behind him. After nearly a dozen twists, turns and backtracks, the figure made it to a small shack and slipped in. The dragon glanced around the darkened room, and snapped the door shut behind him, taking a minute to rattle the half dozen locks into place. Then, he stumbled across the room, cursing as he banged his paw against an unseen stool, to find a set of candles. After a brief moment of fumbling, the dragon lit the candle with a snort of fire, and blinked as the room was lit up. The plump, orange fire dragon placed the candle into a small lantern, and then gripped it in his fangs, turning to the tiny set of stairs leading up to the second floor.

"Honey?" He whispered, his blue eyes nervous as he ascended. "Are you awake? We need to get moving, now!" He waited for a response, and then relaxed when he heard a tired mumble from upstairs.

"We need to get packed! They've found us! We've been here too long, and they're bound to send someone soon if we don't get moving!"

The fire dragon slipped up the stairs, into the attic, and lit the candles. He glanced over at the bed and froze, his eyes wide. Sitting in on the bed, soaked in blood, was Travix, the blood dragon grinning wickedly as he lapped at his paw. The drained remains of a slight feraness lay torn at his side, bones gleaming stark white through her stripped flesh.

"Hello." Travix hissed, his voice sibilant as he rose. The fire dragon stammered in terror as the blood drake stalked forward, his tongue darting out to clean his massive fangs.

"Oh ancestors... You... you MONSTER!" The dragon roared, his eyes flashing as rage replaced the horror in his chest. "You foul beast! How could you?" The dragon inhaled to blast the blood dragon with flame, but the fanged drake simply slapped him across the face, sending him sprawling.

"H... how did you find us...?" The red dragon whimpered, his rage leaving him in an instant, to be replaced by stark terror.

"It washn't hard." Travix sneered, chuckling evilly. "I shimply followed you home from your shnooping yeshterday. Little eshcapes mashter, and he'sh very cautioush when it comes to hish work. He shet up wards all around hish lab."

The fire dragon gulped, and then snarled, his terror fading away to be replaced once more with rage.

"You... You and that... that **freak** think you can get away with what you're doing to our people! The court may be blind, but we aren't! I've already told others, and they'll raise a coup! The commoners won't be oppressed by you any longer!"

"Pity, looksh like there'll be even more victimsh of 'The Cannibal' over the courshe of the month, if that'sh the cashe." Travix smirked, licking his muzzle.

The fire dragon started. "I... I knew it! Y... you're the one whose been targeting us! You're the Canni..."

Travix blurred forward and ripped out the fire dragon's throat, his fangs punching clean through his neck. Travix gave the drake a good shake, tearing out the last of the peasant's life, and then dropped him to the ground.

"Shorry, I wash bored of thish little talk... and I'm shtill a little hungry." Travix leaned down and took a big bite from the dragon's neck, and lapped up the blood that gushed forth. After a minute he sighed and sat back, wiping away the blood on his face.

"Eh, mediocre at besht."

Travix glanced idly around the room, and then sighed, bored. He turned back to the open window looking out over the slums and slipped through it. Travix padded out onto the small balcony outside, and then took off, flapping up to the roof to alight upon its shingled peak. The blood dragon gazed around, his pale green eyes lidded.

"I shuppose I should get back home." Travix sighed mournfully, stepping off the roof, and gilding down to the alley to his left. Travix turned to slip into the darkness, when a laugh stopped him short.

"So, you are the blood dragon I have heard all about."

Travix whirled around, his fangs bared.

"Who'sh there!" He demanded, his eyes searching the darkness. The small laugh sounded again, and Travix glanced up, and frowned. Atop a ledge on the house he had just left, a slim, adult green dragoness lay, grinning down at Travix. She bounded down, landing on one of the only dry patches in the alley, and padded forward, her perfectly white fangs gleaming.

Travix stared at the dragoness as she approached him, the moonlight shining off her flawless body. The dragoness smirked, and stepped up beside the bloodstained dragon, her deep brown eyes blazing.

"Uh... Wh... who are you?" Travix asked, sputtering stupidly as he turned to watch the dragoness, his eyes unable to leave her, an odd sensation welling up in his chest.

The dragoness laughed, her voice low and husky. "I am known as Pandora. You are Travix, are you not?"

"Yesh." Travix whispered, swallowing hard as he felt his temperature rise. "How do you know my name?"

Pandora chuckled. "Jaxar has told me all about you. You are one of his favourite students. Most do not last as long as you. Very impressive."

Travix beamed with pride, his heart fluttering in his chest as she trailed her tail along his side. "Y... You know mashter?"

"We are long time... acquaintances..." Pandora murmured her eyes lidded as she circled Travix, getting closer and closer to him with each circuit. "Speaking of Jaxar, I have a message for him. Would you mind delivering it for me?" Pandora smiled up at Travix and leaned up, placing her snout against his. Travix blushed, but the colouring went unnoticed under the blood and dark scales.

"No I wouldn't... but only if you give me shomething in return..."

"Like what?" Pandora murred, her eyes gleaming.

Travix leaned forward and gently shoved Pandora to the ground. Pandora gave a little "Oof" as she hit the cobblestones, and looked up at Travix, her arching twin horns scraping against the ground. Travix climbed over her and stared down at the emerald coloured dragoness, his eyes blazing with lust. Pandora rolled her eyes, smirking.

"Males."

Travix growled and leaned down to her neck, and gently poked her shoulder with his fangs, his tongue darting out to lap up the droplets of blood. The blood dragon's pale green eyes flew wide and he leaped off of her, spluttering and gagging. Pandora started as well, shocked by the blood dragon's reaction.

"W... What are you!" Travix spat, his eyes wide in horrified shock as he gagged and heaved at the taste of her blood. "Y... you're **not** a dragon!"

Pandora snorted irritably before rising to her paws and padding over to the blood dragon, her eyes cold. "You got your payment, now you have to deliver the message. Tell Jaxy that I have found the 'Lost Ducklings', and that I will be waiting for him at the 'Crossroads of Salvation.' And no, do not ask what that means, if he wants you to know, then he will tell you."

Pandora whirled around and glided into the darkness, before turning back to Travix, her expression coy. "And if you are not so picky next time we meet, we can try this again." With that, Pandora vanished into the darkness, fading from sight. Travix blinked as the burning desire smoldering in his chest vanished along with her, as if it had never been there.

Travix stepped forward, puzzled, and examined the shadows where the dragoness had slipped into. He started as a bat flew past, screeching at him. Travix snorted and turned back, grumbling.

The bloody blood dragon took off, soaring up into the air and spiraling up to the upper level of the city. Travix landed on the branch road and paused to clean the blood from his body. Then, with that done, he took off, heading to the massive tree that made up the palace. The black and red dragon kept to the shadows, scurrying through the leaves as carts and guards passed by.

Travix stopped at the massive wooden walls surrounding the palace and quickly scaled it, slipping up and over before any guards had a chance of noticing. The saber toothed dragon landed softly in the gardens. He sped over to a door set off to the side and pulled out a key. Travix inserted it into the lock and cautiously pushed open the door, glancing around inside. Once he was satisfied there was no one in the room, he padded in, and shut the door behind him, locking it once more.

Travix quickly made his way through the palace, careful to avoid any servants he came across. He stopped several floors up, in a balcony overlooking the courtroom. He hopped up into the rafters and lay down, leaning over to watch the meeting below.

Jaxar knelt in the center of the court once more, speaking to the nobles and officials as he described what had 'occurred' during the 'massacre' of Dellberie. The Nobles gasped and held kerchiefs to their mouths and eyes as they listened to Jaxar's masterful rendition, crying in outrage and sobbing in the appropriate places as the sorcerer played them like a harp. Travix couldn't help but chuckle as they swallowed up every word he spoke, reveling in every grotesque detail he fed them.

Travix stirred once Jaxar rose and bowed to Ramolous, who sat straight backed in the throne, and was dismissed. The blood dragon leaped back onto the balcony as Jaxar turned to leave the courtroom, and hustled down to meet up with him outside the palace.

"Ah, there you are, Travix!" Jaxar exclaimed as he sauntered out of the gates, spying the black dragon waiting for him by a motionless cart.

Travix stepped forward to meet his master.

"Mashter, I... er... met shomeone intereshting today." Travix murmured as they started walking down the wooden path, the blood dragon eyeing Jaxar's face. "Shomeone who shaid she **knew** you."

"Oh, and who was that?" Jaxar asked, glancing over to Travix, amused.

"She called hershelf Pandora." Travix replied, studying the half-breeds expression.

Jaxar's twisted face went from surprise, to excitement, and then back to its normal amused state in the blink of an eye.

"What did she say to you?" Jaxar asked, his faint smile slowly broadening into a full grin.

"Something about ducklings and a place called the 'crossroads of salvation.'" Travix grunted, shaking his head. "She ashked me to tell you about it."

Jaxar's smile grew even wider and he gripped his staff, laughing giddily. "Perfect! That means there's only six more phases left! Now the hard part starts!"

"What did she mean mashter? What phases?" Travix asked, stopping in the middle of the road as he gazed at Jaxar, puzzled.

Jaxar turned to the blood dragon and laughed, throwing back his hood. "It means **everything**! Soon The Family will be united once again, after two long decades of being apart! As for the phases, well, I'll tell you once this little war is done with, and we're on our merry way to our next stop."

"And were will that be?" Travix asked, resuming treading alongside Jaxar, as the sorcerer calmed.

"The Crossroads of Salvation! Where else?"

"And where is that exactly?"

"Telling you would take all the fun out of it! Wait and see Travix, wait and see."

* * *

Savron groaned, flopping down on his mat, exhausted. He rolled over on the hard, padded rug, grateful to get some rest after hours of nonstop flying, struggling to keep up with the much larger adults. The purple dragon stretched out his sore body and yawned, shaking his head weakly, his four golden horns stabbing into the earth as he laid his head back, the long silver frill climbing down his back squashed against the ground. Savron blinked blearily and gazed out through the flap of his tent, watching as the soldiers busied themselves clearing out the surrounding jungle area, setting up tents and collecting logs as the sun descended past the treetops.

Savron laid his head back, his green eyes returning to the roof of his small tent, to gaze blankly, his emotionless expression almost despondent. He lay there for a while, staring, but was pulled away as Sleet, Tirren and Igneous slipped into the tent, followed a moment later by Typhous and Voltlyn.

"Hey Sav." Tirren murmured, sighing as they all crammed themselves into the tiny tent. "How're you doing?"

Savron grunted, turning his eyes away from them, not responding. Tirren glanced at Igneous, frowning. Igneous shrugged.

"I… I don't suppose you're going to sneak out and check out the camp, huh?" Sleet asked, suggestively, a vain hope filling his face.

Savron shook his head. "No. I won't get you into any more trouble because of me. I've already screwed up way too much."

Igneous sighed. "You know, it's not your fault that Lyr was captured, Sav. You couldn't have known."

"But it **is** my fault!" Savron hissed, rising up onto his haunches to glare at Igneous. "If I hadn't been so stupid in running here just to fulfill my foolish pride, he would never have gotten hurt! He even told us what would happen if we went, but I didn't listen! He only came to make sure I didn't get killed, and now he could be dead for all we know! It's entirely my fault. Anything that happens to him is on my shoulders. Don't you dare try and tell me otherwise!"

The five flinched at his harsh rebuke, looking away, understanding what he was going through. Inferna had only just broken the news to them the day before, and out of all of them it had hit Savron the hardest. As leader of their group, it had been his responsibility to look after his friends, and Lyrith, being the most vulnerable with his lack of powers, had been the one to pay the price for his incompetence.

Voltlyn glanced back to Savron as he came to a stop, breathing hard, all his pent up frustration having left him all at once. She couldn't help but feel guilty, seeing Savron's desperate anguish at losing his Albino friend. Upon learning of Lyrith's capture, Voltlyn couldn't help but feel relief, knowing he had survived. She knew deep down that this was no doubt far worse for Lyrith, but she felt relief all the same. He was alive, and could be saved; he could come back to them, to her. Voltlyn glanced away again, berating herself for the selfish thought. Lyrith was everyone's friend, not just hers. She had no more claim to him than anyone else did.

"Look, Sav, I know it's hard, but you can't wallow in your mistakes." Typhous murmured, looking over at the purple sorrowfully. "Yes, you did something stupid, we all did something stupid, but he can still be rescued. There's still a chance for him to come out of this. We can't lose all hope yet."

Savron sighed, and nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. "Yeah... I guess you're right... Still..."

The purple dragon paused, trying to think of what he was feeling, but was suddenly interrupted by the tent flying open. A tall, slim grey wind dragon strode in, his silver-plated chain mail glittering as the setting sun struck him from behind. He shuffled in as far as he could, only able to fit half of himself into the already crowded tent. He stopped, coughing anxiously when he realized that the couldn't enter.

"Oh... uh... hello." He murmured, a faint blush visible behind his visored helm. He glanced around, and stopped, his gaze settling on Typhous. "Ah! There you are m'boy!" The wind dragon cried, reaching over and grabbing Typhous, pulling him close. Typhous flushed furiously as his dad playfully wrestled with him, scraping the knuckles of his paw against Typhous's scalp in a rough noogie.

"Dad!" Typhous complained loudly, squirming in his father's grip. "Stop it! Why do you always have to do this when I'm with friends!"

"Hello General Aephion." Tirren murmured, rising and bowing to the wind dragon gracefully. Aephion plopped Typhous back down, and removed his helmet, placing it on the ground outside as he settled down on his haunches. He glanced between Tirren and Typhous, a curious grin creeping over his muzzle.

"Oh? Is this lovely dragoness your girlfriend, Typhous?" Aephion asked sweetly, his face innocent as he sized them both up. Typhous's blush deepened to an even darker red.

"N... No!" He and Tirren stammered, shocked at his sudden and unfounded assumption. Aephion shrugged, disappointed.

"If you say so. I'm sure she would have made a fine mate."

Typhous groaned, putting his head in his paws, curling up defensively in a corner. The others looked at him sympathetically, though Savron seemed more amused than sorry.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Typhous sighed, rubbing at the sides of his head.

"I'm here to help lead the army of course." Aephion chuckled, giving Typhous a small shove with a paw. Typhous sighed mournfully.

"That's not what I..."

"I was teasing! I know what you meant!" Aephion laughed, rolling his sky blue eyes. "You don't have to be so uptight! I came by to see you. I heard you'd snuck here to join up in the fight. I couldn't come to see you earlier because Pyron was keeping me busy. So now that I have a free moment, I thought I'd pop by and check up on you."

"Let me guess: You're going to tell me how stupid I was to come here?" Typhous sighed, shaking his head. "Well, let me tell you that nothing you say will make me regret my decision."

"That's good to hear." Aephion said, smiling.

Typhous frowned. "Wait… what?"

"To be quite frank, I'm rather proud of you for taking your life into your own paws, and doing what you felt you had to, without regrets." Aephion murmured, nodding. Typhous stared at him incredulously, as did the other students. "Of course, that's not to say I'm not utterly furious that you risked your life needlessly." Aephion continued on in the same pleasant voice, his cheerful expression strained to the point of becoming a grimace. "I just wanted you to know that I'll respect your choice, so I will resist giving you any harsh lectures. After all, I heard Spyro and Cynder already covered that for me."

Typhous nodded, his expression oddly proud, despite the deep blush colouring his scales. Aephion rose and stretched, the sun flashing off his grey scales

"Well, it's time I got back to my duties." The slim, grey adult grunted, strapping his helmet back into place. "Sorry about the short visit, but I really can't stay long. It was nice meeting you all. Typhous has told me quite a bit about you… In the few letters he deigns to send me." Aephion muttered, half to himself as he turned away, slipping out of the tent. The students waved to him as he left, smiling as they looked between him and Typhous.

"Wow Ty." Savron chuckled, shaking his head. "You have a really cool dad. You get in trouble and he pats you on the back! Wish I was as lucky as you"

Tirren sighed, and swiped half-heartedly at his head. "You goofus. Out of all of us, you have to have the coolest dad. Don't give us that bullshit."

Typhous smiled as Savron scooted out of the way of the swipe, chuckling.

"I don't know." Typhous said, shaking his head. "He never leaves me alone, and is always asking me about my life. I really just wish he'd give me some space."

"Know how you feel there, bro." Savron grinned, leaning over to thump Typhous on the shoulder with a balled up paw. "You're not alone in your suffering."

"It's nice to see you back to your cheery old self." Igneous murmured, putting a paw on Savron's shoulder. Savron smiled back wanly.

"Yeah, I suppose it is."

A deep horn sounded, and everyone looked out of the tent, at the darkening camp outside.

"Looks like everyone's settling down for the night." Tirren whispered, rising to her paws and stretching. "Guess that means we have to go back to our own tents, huh?"

"Yeah, unfortunately." Savron grimaced sourly, his green eyes darkening.

"Ah well. Guess we'll see you in the morning." Igneous grunted, lumbering to his paws and shaking out his crimson body, to loosen up the joints. "Night, Sav."

"Night guys." Savron said, waving as the others rose, and turned to leave. He watched as Voltlyn and Sleet, the last to leave slipped out, and then the purple sighed, rising and shuffling over to the tent flap, to draw it shut. Then, he turned back, sighing once more as he padded back to his bedroll. Savron flopped down, and stretched out his thick amethyst body, before glancing around the now oddly empty tent. Savron laid his head down on his forepaws and curled up into a tight ball, covering his head with a silver wing.

Voltlyn sighed as she lay down on her bedroll, glancing out through the flap of her tent to Savron's, which stood just barely in view. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Out of all of them, he had bourn the brunt of the Guardian's, and his parent's wrath, and while they had all gotten a taste of it, he had been the focus of it all. Combined with the uncertainty of Lyrith's survival, the knowledge of his failure as a leader was no doubt unbearable for the purple.

_"Though,"_ Voltlyn thought as she curled up on her bed, resting her head on her forepaws._ "Lyrith would probably sock Savon right in the gut for being so worried about him."_ Voltlyn couldn't help but giggle at the thought of the Albino punching Savron during one of his sessions of grumbling and moaning, while telling him off for being such a twat. Feeling a little better, Voltlyn shut her eyes, slowly letting her body relax, dispelling all tension from her.

_"Lyr's strong. He can take anything they throw at them."_ Voltlyn mused as she drifted away into the world of dreams. _"There's nothing he can't handle. Nothing."_

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's gang: Savron, Lyrith, Voltlyn, Typhous, Igneous, Sleet, Tirren.)

Torch

Jaxar, Ramolous, Travix, Pandora

Inferna, Pyron, Aephion

Woah, this was a surprisingly short chapter, wasn't it? Haven't had a chapter this short since… well, probably the first half a dozen chapters of mine. Though, to be fair this was mostly filler, and I wasn't in the mood to write another long filler chapter.

I originally wasn't going to go back to Torch until the very end of DL, but I decided, heck, why not? I can cook up a scene for him to remind you all of his existence. ;P As you've seen, he really isn't taking his banishment all that well. Wonder why...?

*Le gasp!* :O Another new character? And one who knows Jaxar no less! Who is she? What is she talking about? What is the Crossroads of Salvation? Why doesn't she wear pants? (Oh wait… right, she was a dragon. x3) Unfortunately, none of these questions will be answered in Dark Legacy. xD That'll wait for some other time, like the sequel. =3

Sorry to all of you wanting to see the reactions, but I really don't feel they were that important, since they're reactions would be fairly obvious. Relief, followed by some apprehension at what could possibly happen to him during his imprisonment. The only ones I felt really worth exploring was Savron's and Voltlyn's, since they have the most emotional investment for the current circumstances. Sure the other ones feel terrible, but these two are by far the most dramatic in terms of emotions. I simply didn't want to waste time on it, since I didn't feel like there was much I could do. :/ Sorry.

Well, enough of that. Thanks for reading. ^_^ I'll get to work on chapter 28 soon, which will have an... interesting take on the 'villains.' :P Just need to work on a few scenes, and it'll be done. ^^ Got a spring course in May, which will consume most of my time during that month, so we'll have to see if I can scrounge up enough time to get 28 out.

Ps. I would like to dedicate this chapter, and the eventual chapter 28 (because just this chapter isn't enough) to my Grandma, who passed away a few days back on April 25th. She was a wonderful women, and I will miss her dearly. Bye bye, Grandmum, I will always remember you fondly. ;_;


	28. Turmoil

Chapter 28. Turmoil

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, Avalar, or any other place or character belonging to the Spyro franchise. When taking up belly dancing, one must always remember that it is completely inappropriate to store jam in one's undergarments. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom. Heh, bottom._

Ramolous looked out over Grasbronda with an intense gaze. His deep, dark brown eyes were intent as he surveyed his kingdom. The prince's long, black mane was braided into a thick plait, which fell across one shoulder, covering his ivy tattoo. Gold beads were woven into his mane, forming the likeness of a bat bearing two strands of ivy; the sigil of the feran royalty. Ramolous was armoured in tight leather, with plates of metal dotting his frame here and there. The decorative gold thread holding the leather together gleamed in the faint light.

The prince grunted and leaned out over the dais of his balcony, gazing down at the wagons that trundled along the massive branches of the great forest city. People scurried about in the hive-like trees as the horns of war sounded. The simple civilians took refuge in the great wooden structures built into the trees themselves, cowering in fear. Hundreds of panther and feran soldiers were perched along the smaller branches of the trees. They shifted about anxiously, waiting for the call to action.

Ramolous grunted and turned away as the sounds of the horn died, slipping back into his quarters. He stomped across the span of his room, paying no heed to the lush decorations or rich furniture. Ramolous passed by the dragonesses lounging on his bed without a single word, ignoring their concerned stares. The dark red prince snorted as he pushed open his door and stormed out into the wooden halls of the palace.

"Is something troubling you, my lord?"

Ramolous glanced back at the speaker, slowing his stride. A portly panther stepped up beside the prince, jogging in order to keep up.

"No." Ramolous grunted. "Nothing is troubling me. We have the advantage of terrain, as well as the cover and height of the trees. They may have superior numbers, but we hold every other card."

"I'm sure we do, my lord." The panther panted, slowing as the two entered the throne room. "But are you not concerned about the Guardians and the many other heroes they have at their disposal? Hunter, Spyro, Pyron, Cynder, Prowlus, Aephion? All are veterans of the war with Malefor and all are renowned warriors. They could be trouble if we allow this conflict to continue."

"You act as though **we** are **lacking** such warriors!" Ramolous snarled. He glared at the panther who balked at the fierceness of his gaze. "We were part of that war too, and we even had a part to play in thwarting the Dark Master during the Second Resurrection. I myself led the charge that took Malefor's bastion in Halsgrad, which the Dragon Realms united could not break."

"O... of course, your eminence. How foolish of me." The panther stuttered, bowing in apology.

Ramolous snorted derisively and turned away, dismissing the panther's presence. The prince padded across the span of his throne room, heading down the hall that led to the upper chambers, lost in thought.

_"Twenty years and it's finally time! Plan after plan, plot after plot and now I finally have the chance to avenge everyone! I will do it with my own two paws, even if it kills me. No other should have to bear this burden but myself."_

Ramolous came to a halt outside his father's quarters and dismissed the guards. With a flick of his paw, Ramolous unlatched the lock and slipped quietly into the room, shutting the door softly behind him. The room was in ruinous shape, the tapestries and decorations having been torn from the walls and the lavis furniture upturned. Priceless statuettes and trophies that had one adorned the shelves were now scattered and the many fur rugs that had once lay on the ground were shredded. Amidst it all Kaiser lay sprawled out on his bed, his eyes glazed as he stared at the ceiling. The king's eyes wandered over to Ramolous as he entered, a sudden fire entering his green eyes as he focused on the prince.

"Ramolous." Kaiser glowered, sitting up to face his son. "You have a great deal of nerve coming back here."

"I just wish to see you again father." The prince murmured sadly. He plopped down on one of the cushions, eyes fixed on the greying feran.

Kaiser sneered. "Oh really? You are not going to silence me? Your trick won't work for long. Sooner or later someone will learn that I'm not 'sick' over the 'betrayal' of the realms. The magical sound wards you had your advisor set up around my room to keep people from hearing me won't fool anyone for much longer. Your little rebellion will come to an end all too soon."

Ramolous shrugged. "If that's the case, so be it."

Kaiser frowned, puzzled by Ramolous's reply. "What do you...?"

Ramolous cut off Kaiser, silencing his father with a sharp movement of his paw. "It matters not. I've come to tell you that the Realm's army is at our doorstep and that it is likely the battle will begin sometime today."

Kaiser's eyes widened. "The Realm's... what have you done, Ramolous! If you let this continue, our people, our entire nation will be obliterated! We will lose everything!"

"It will not come to that." Ramolous grunted, rising. Kaiser glared at his son, a snarl creasing his muzzle.

"And how do you hope to stop them? Even if you force them back now, they will only return again. We are small and not the power we used to be."

Ramolous gazed at Kaiser, his eyes distant. "Worry not, father. When all is said and done, our kingdom will remain intact and all will be well again."

"How can you say that!" Kaiser spat, his hackles rising. "Do you know the hell you've brought upon our people? How can you say it will all be well once it is over?"

"Trust me father." The prince murmured. "For once, please trust me. His Legacy must come to an end."

Kaiser was silent for a moment and then his eyes widened.

"That can't be why... You fool! This is what it has been all about! He was bluffing! In all these years no sign of him has appeared! No minion of his has come back for vengeance! No spawn has surfaced to bring devastation to the realms! There is **no Legacy**!"

"That's because you are all blind to it." Ramolous snorted, his expression contorting into a fierce snarl. "I'm the only one with enough sense to realize that **they** are his Legacy! They will eventually turn and everyone will suffer because of it!"

Kaiser did not answer, his expression unchanging. Ramolous sighed, taking a step towards his father, raising a paw gently towards him. Kaiser jerked back, shuffling away from his son. Ramolous sighed in defeat and turned away, his paw falling to the floor.

"Goodbye Father." Ramolous murmured. "You may not understand now, but maybe you will someday."

Kaiser continued to glare as Ramolous slipped through the door and shut it behind him, the king's expression hard as stone. Ramolous latched the door and sighed, leaning against the thick wood. His eyes closed as he rubbed at his face with a paw. After a long moment of silence, Ramolous opened his eyes and pushed himself away from the door. The prince grunted and stamped away, his sharp eyes cold. Ramolous padded back through the hall and emerged out into the throne room.

"The chat not go well?"

Ramolous started and turned to face Jaxar as he emerged from the shadows. The prince snorted.

"What? You didn't listen in?" Ramolous sneered spitefully.

"I'm afraid I couldn't, even had I wished to. My wards, remember?" Jaxar replied smoothly, bowing. "Did you want me too?"

"Never mind." Ramolous turned away from the cloaked magician, the purple robes shrouding his monstrous face from the prince's view. "We have more important things to do as it is."

"Indeed. Speaking of which, the council wishes to speak with you."

"What do they want?"

Jaxar shrugged. "Something about a truce. You might want to confer with them."

Ramolous snarled and resumed his pace, heading down towards the cluster of ferans and panthers crowded by the throne. They glanced up at the armoured prince as he approached them, bowing.

"My lord, we have just received word that the Dragon Realms are at out doorstep and that you have marshaled the troops without consulting us. Surely we should attempt diplomacy before resorting to violence." A robed panther asked, stepping forward.

"That is out of the question." Ramolous snorted, shaking his head. "I will not have those barbarians coming here under the guise of a truce to butcher us like they did to Gorgulline. I will not let them take over our kingdom without a fight."

The council flinched at the rebuking tone.

"So, you think that there is no hope for peace?"

"If they had any intention of peace, they would not have butchered the people of Dellberie like they did." Ramolous muttered, turning away to face his advisor. "The battle will be starting soon and we cannot have you falling into their paws. Who knows what they would do to you if you became their prisoners? Jaxar, show them to the inner sanctum."

Jaxar bowed, his expression blank. Then the sorcerer turned to the council members and made a sweeping gesture towards the the inner sanctum.

"Please, follow me."

The council members glanced over at Ramolous, but realized they had been dismissed. They followed after Jaxar anxiously, who had turned to glide down the hall to the inner sanctum.

Ramolous grunted, glancing back before padding from the throne room and out to the palace gates. Ramolous sighed, inhaling the warm, moist air as he exited the great tree palace in the centre of the city. He gazed out over the courtyard, a massive knot of intertwining branches that created a platform on which to walk. The prince admired the vibrant gardens scattered throughout the courtyard, planted in massive clods of soil packed into the crevices between the mighty branches. The feran moved along the wooden path out of the courtyard, and onto the branching walkway. His head swived around, trying to catch a glimpse of the marshal of his forces. After several moments of looking the prince's eyes found the figure of the lightly armoured panther, issuing orders to a squad of soldiers. The marshal was stalky and whip thin, his ebony black fur gleaming in the fading sunlight. A lush green and brown cloak was draped over his shoulders. Ramolous paced hastily toward him, huffing.

"Have the civilians been evacuated?" Ramolous barked, coming to a stop beside the panther. The marshal started, pausing in mid sentence to turn to the prince, bowing with a flourish of his green and brown cloak. The squad behind him followed suit, saluting the battle adorned prince.

"Yes, your highness, I've personally escorted the last party into the sanctum, only the folk in lower Grasbronda remain and they have taken refuge in the caverns beneath the city."

"Excellent, are the soldiers in place?"

"Everyone is equipped and ready for your..."

"Lord Ramolous!"

Both Ramolous and the panther turned to face the messenger as he ground to a halt in front of them, the feran's red chest heaving. He glanced up and bowed to Ramolous, trying to draw in enough breath to speak.

"Go on." Ramolous grunted, waving a paw. "Speak, what is it?"

"The... the first of the... Realm's scouts have entered the... the lower city!" The messenger declared, rising to his paws. "And the rest of the... army is following close behind!"

Ramolous snorted. "Then we don't have much more time to prepare. Marshal, come with me, we'll go to the observatory and see what they're doing."

The panther general turned and issued the last orders to the squad he had been addressing. He then turned and took off after Ramolous, jogging to keep up. Ramolous padded back into the palace, his strides lengthening until he was bounding down the halls. He came to an abrupt halt outside a massive iron shod door and pushed it open, stamping inside. Ramolous glanced around the room, before trodding to its center. A massive hole in the ancient weathered wood revealed what was happening below. Ramolous sat down beside the hole and squinted into the distance, his vassal skidding to a halt beside him.

Far below Ramolous could just make out the figures of the soldiers creeping into the city. They started as a small stream, only to rapidly swell into a torrent of bodies flooding through the lower district.

"My lord?" The Panther grunted, glancing over at the prince. "Do you wish me to..."

"We wait." Ramolous grunted, not turning to face his minion. "Keep a watch out for weaknesses in their formation as they spread out. I want to know the best places to attack them. As of yet, we hold the advantage of surprise, since they have no idea when and where we will strike; I do not want to waste it just yet."

The panther's brow furrowed, but he said nothing, turning his attention back to the scene below. "As long as we do not wait too long. We cannot have them fortifying their position, your highness."

"Of course not!" Ramolous snapped. "I am no fool."

The marshal sighed, shrugging and rolling his eyes, the prince's attention still on the soldiers far below.

"It looks to me like they're splitting up, looking for anyone to butcher, and moving in large groups to... what're they doing?" Said Ramolous who leaned over and peered down, squinting to try and get better view. The soldiers were gathering around the smaller of the jungle trees where they started piling up lumber around it, collecting the deadwood scattered across the ground.

"Are they trying to build fortifications?" The panther asked, puzzled. "Or maybe some strange stairway up here?"

"I don't think so." Ramolous murmured, shaking his head. "It doesn't have the right structure, it's more haphazard. Almost like... like..." The feran's brown eyes widened in shock and he turned, racing from the room. "PYRES!"

The Marshal stared after him for a second and then what the prince said sunk in.

"No! They can't be thinking of..." The panther glanced back down, to confirm his fears and then raced after the prince.

"Archers!" Ramolus roared as he raced from the palace, shouting to the troops as he sped past, his fur cape billowing in the wind. "Get to the east side and target the dragons! Keep them pinned down! Ferans! Strike at the west body from the air, they have the fewest archers! Everyone else, keep them from lighting those pyres! GO!"

The troops sprang into action, scattering. Panthers bounded along the branches, leaping off to grab vines. They swung their way down as the ferans took off, roaring as they dived the gathering foe. Archers took position on the branches and proceeded to rain arrows into the dragons, their accuracy unerring despite the distance.

Ramolous paused, breathing lightly to watch as the force far below erupted into action. The enemy warriors abandoned their pyres to face the treat attacking from above.

The marshal came to a stop beside the prince and gazed down as their soldiers were met with a wall of steel and magic.

"It was a trap." The panther snarled, his eyes burning as he glared down at the Dragon Realm's army.

"Of course it was." Ramolous snorted, derisively. "They couldn't have been stupid enough to light a forest fire while they were still in it. It was obviously a trap."

"Then why attack like we did?"

"Because even if they did plan on us attacking we can't risk them lighting the pyres, intentionally or not."

"So you're saying you willingly walked into a trap, because they **might** light the fires?" The Marshal asked incredulously.

Ramolous sighed. "Considering that the only other option was to risk losing the **entire** city, I think jumping into the fray was the better option."

The panther glanced down into the swelling chaos below as the two armies clashed, blades and bursts of magic flashing in the distance.

"Permission to lead the attack, sir?" The panther murmured, grabbing the falchion hanging off of his hip as he glanced hopefully at the prince

Ramolous nodded. "Permission granted. Do away with these pests as quickly as possible."

"Will do, your majesty." The panther said, turning and leaping off from the branch-way, grabbing a vine on the way down to swing to his soldiers' aid. Ramolous watched him go, frowning. After a moment of indecision, Ramolous turned to the ferans getting ready to take off nearby and moved towards them.

"You will be under my command." Ramolous snorted, coming to a halt before them. He looked them over with a critical eye, sizing them up. The ferans jerked to a halt, before saluting to their prince.

"As your highness commands." The leader of the group murmured, stepping down to let Ramolous take point. Mere moments later the prince was barking orders to his men, telling them their jobs as they took off, following Ramolous to battle

...

Travix grinned as he tore through a pair of screaming dragons. He sighed in pleasure as their blood gushed over him, drenching the dragon in gore. The mass of cheetah, dragon and canine soldiers scrambled away from the cackling monster of a dragon, his massive fangs bared in a brutal smirk.

"Aw, don't run! I washn't finished yet!" Travix crooned, stepping after the terrified soldiers. "You haven't sheen my latest trick! I've been practishing it for quite a while and I'd like to try it out. Any volunteersh?"

The crowd of warriors broke, panicking as the blood dragon advanced. Travix sneered as they turned away, fleeing.

"Typical."

He shot forward, bounding through the shadows as he tracked a small sect of the larger group. He quickly shot past them, slipping through the massive trees and came to a halt directly in the middle of their path. He rose onto his hind paws as they burst through the trees. They grinded to a halt when they saw the gore-bathed dragon, and turned to flee once more.

Travix snorted and raised his forepaws, his claws stretching out towards the scrambling soldiers. His eyes flashed white as he traced half a dozen runes into the air, muttering under his breath. A wail of despair rose from the warriors as a dozen more blood soaked Travixs appeared around them, blocking off all escape routes.

"Sho," The thirteen blood dragons hissed simultaneously. "If you would be sho kind ash to shtop running, I might make all your deathsh quick and relatively painlessh. How doesh that shound?"

The soldiers balked as the blood dragon aspects stalked towards them, the warriors glancing at one another. Then, their gazes hardened as they steeled themselves. They raised their weapons and howled, charging. Travix blinked as they rushed him, spears lowered as they took formation, focusing on the one they knew had cast the spell. The blood drake sneered and flared his wings, the bright, multi-hued runes covering his body flashing. The wall of steel and flesh hit Travix like a wave, only to be forced back by an invisible wall. The blood dragon aspects surrounding the squad flickered as Travix turned his concentration to his shield, snarling as he pushed them back. When spears and swords failed, the cheetahs and canines fell back to be replaced by dragons. Their elemental fury bathed Travix in a wave of magic.

Travix held firm against their barrage, gritting his massive fangs as he stood against the onslaught. Travix's barrier blazed as it fought against the wave of magic, just barely holding against it. The blast faltered and faded as the soldiers stopped to see if the blood dragon had fallen. Travix pounced, his barrier falling away. He slammed into the crowd of armoured warriors, fangs and claws flashing as he tore through them like wet paper.

The warriors shrieked in horror as he tore apart the first of their ranks. Desperately they lurched forward, swiping their blades and claws at him. Travix evaded the most lethal blows, but allowed them to scratch and slash at his body, drawing out spurts of blood. To the solider's horror the black and red dragon's blood hardened over his scales, forming thick, spikey plates. Travix lunged forward and knocked a thick bodied drake to the ground, pinning the squirming fire drake as he chomped down on his neck.

The soldiers around him backed away in horror as Travix stepped aside. In his wake lay a body, seemingly nothing more than skin-wrapped bone. Travix sighed as he pulled away, grinning broadly as he felt his injuries seal shut. His body once again unmarred, without any sign of battle scarring.

"Regroup!" A brave cheetah soldier barked at his fellow warriors. "Get into block formation. Surround him when he attacks and cut him down!"

Travix watched with amusement as the panicked soldiers suddenly hardened, their hopeless terror vanishing under the familiar commands. They moved into formation, cheetahs and canines throwing up their shields in a wall in front of them, their spears poking between the gaps threateningly. The dragons took up the rear and started bombarding Travix with short blasts of magic, advancing slowly towards him.

Travix threw himself to the side as four bolts of lightning lashed out at him, the blood drake rolling behind a tree for cover. The soldiers, their confidence returning, made to surrounded the tree, weapons ready and eager to strike. Travix did not give them the chance. Slashing his arms with his razor claws, Travix forced the blood out of himself in a geyser of dark red gore. The soldiers gasped in shock at the sight and took a step back, only to be caught in a hail of bloody razors which rained down from the sky.

Travix panted, woozy from the sudden blood loss as he gazed around at the screaming, panicking soldiers. He grinned grimly and stepped forward, forcing himself not to wobble as he snatched up up one of the more lively survivors. The soldiers were left reeling, having lost half their numbers in that last attack. They took one terrified look at Travix sinking his fangs into a screaming canine and bolted. The scattering warriors no longer able to hold back their mounting terror.

Travix took one last slurp out of the wolf, reducing the dying warrior to a dry husk. Travix dropped it, sighing in relief as he felt his essence rejuvenate. The cuts along his forelegs sealed up, ceasing the endless flow of dark blood. The blood dragon watched as the warriors retreated, scattering before him and shrugged.

"Guessh I'll haff to find shome new play matesh." Travix murmured, raising a paw and gesturing around him. The shards of hardened blood scattering the carnage around him liquified and flowed back towards him, seeping up his legs and over his body. There, they formed more plates of iron hard blood over his body. Travix stretched and gazed around, looking for something of interest to play with. His eyes stopped on a group of silver armoured dragons marching through the crashing waves of steel and flesh, blazing swaths through all that came in their way. In the center of the ring of drakes, a slim, grey dragon took the lead, issuing sharp commands as they forced their way through a wall of panthers and ferans. Travix grinned malignantly.

The armoured blood drake bound forward, beating his wings and soaring above the mass of struggling bodies bellow, only to dive at the group, claws outstretched. The leader saw him coming and turned, firing off several wind razors at the descending blood drake. Travix gritted his fangs and focused all his power into the glyphs painted onto his scales, forming an egg-shaped barrier around himself.

The blades of wind struck the barrier and deflected away, leaving Travix unharmed, if a little winded from exerting so much power. He crashed down atop a fire dragon, his blood armoured claws sheering through the steel plates and into the dragon's neck and flank. Travix grinning as a gush of blood spurted out over him. He rode the dying fire dragon to the ground and launched himself at the leader, his maw agape as he aimed for the wind dragon's neck.

The leader snorted and summoned forth a wall of wind to force Travix away. Travix snarled in playful frustration as he missed his mark, landing several meters away from the general. The blood dragon whirled about clawing a nearby ice dragon across the face, before turning his attention back to his prey.

"General Aephion! Are you alright!" One of the general's warriors asked, pausing as they rushed to deal with Travix.

Aephion ignored the comment, all his attention focused on the new threat. "Surround him quickly and focus fire on him! Don't let him get to close!"

The silver armoured warriors snapped to attention and acted instantaneously, forming a rough circle around Travix and blasting him with everything they had. Travix grunted as the magic assailed him, feeling his blazing wards slowly giving out as they kept the magic at bay.

Having no time to lose, Travix liquified his armour and draining it all down to the tip of his tail. Then, with a snort, he twirled around, flicking his tail and launching the blood in a vicious arc. The blood hardened instantly into spikes as it hurtled through the air. Aephion, seeing the attack coming, only had enough time to throw up a barrier of wind around himself and the warriors adjacent to him before the blood struck, cutting down a third of his force.

The magical assault faltered, the warriors stunned at the devestation, giving Travix enough time to pounce out of the circle and at Aephion once more. The wind general had only a second's warning and leapt to the side, rolling to avoid the black and red drake's vicious claws. Aephion whirled around and opened his maw, unleashing a gale of wind to blast Travix away, causing the unbalanced red to tumble head over paws into a tree.

Travix's eyes widened as he felt the glyphs give out, unable to absorb any more damage. He quickly dived behind a tree, evading two more wind razors from Aephion. Panting, Travix examined his body, snorting when he noticed the once smoldering glow on the runes had vanished, leaving the paint to fade and flake away. Travix snarled and dug a claw into his arm, drawing blood. With several swift motions he cleaned his chest of the dry, flaking paint. Then, he drew a new set of glyphs on his body with as much speed as he could, sensing the squad regrouping behind him.

Once he was finished, Travix examined his handiwork, sighing as he finished the last incantation.

"A little shloppy, but it will haff to do." He grunted, taking a deep breath before throwing himself out from behind the tree. Aephion's squad had taken up a slightly crescent formation, all the dragons waiting for him as he emerged.

Travix barely had time to register what was going on before they were on him, concentrated magic slamming headlong into his chest. Travix yowled as he was bowled over, just managing to roll out of the way before the blast could completely burn through his wards and reduce him to ash. Travix snarled and traced a claw through the air, muttering. The warriors cried out in shock as twin Travixs bounded out from behind the tree, darting into the underbrush.

Un-beknownced to Aephion and his men, the true Travix was clambering up the tree in front of them. The blood soaked drake snickered as he stalked up to the warriors, who were too busy with the illusions to notice him. Travix crept out onto the branch, waiting for just the right moment to pounce. Aephion spat curses as the illusions evaded his men's attacks, seemingly unharmed by everything they threw at them. Travix saw his chance, and pounced as the silver clad warriors paused to catch their breath. The blood dragon slapped his wings to his side as he dived down at the tired warriors, his muzzle twisted into a malicious grin.

The black, blood armoured dragon flared his wings at the last second, halting his fall as he crashed down on top of the leading soldier. Travix let the illusions vanish as he stepped forward, and tore into the stunned force, his claws aiming for any gaps in their armour he could find. Aephion, realizing what had happened, started shouting orders to his men, but it was too late. The blood dragon ripped through his forces, moving like a dark, bloody blur, his claws tearing through armour and flesh alike.

Travix emerged from the other side of the force and pounced at Aephion, claws outstretched, a wicked grin spreading across his sabretooth muzzle. Aephion panicked, and threw his wings up over his face, conjuring a wailing wall of wind to force the monsterous dragon away. Travix hit the wall and bounced off, curling into a ball to hit the ground at a roll. He stopped and flipped back onto his paws, turning back to the manic pack of dragons he had just ambushed, and raised his bloodsoaked paws. As the warriors moved to organize for another assault, Travix lapped the dripping blood off of his claws, a satisfied smirk crossing his face as they got into position.

Travix shook his head as they started to advance towards him, pushing the stray combatants around them out of the way as they approached the blood dragon, elemental power crackling in their maws. The black and red dragon rose from where he had been crouching, his eyes flashing with a dark red glow. The bloodied force of dragons ground to a halt, and stood stalk still in the middle of the battle ground.

"What are you doing! Keep moving!" Aephion hissed, stepping forward to urge his soldiers on. Other soldiers, ones that had not been injured during the fight also pushed and shoved at their comrades, trying to force them forward, but to no avail.

Travix casually raised a paw and gestured to the paralyzed warriors. "Kill."

Abruptly the paralysis was lifted, and the soldiers turned inward to face each other, eyes bulging in panic. They all took a step towards each other, and pounced. Their claws tore through armour and into flesh as they turned on one another. Travix watched with an amused smile, his pale green eyes swamped in an eerie red glow as his adversaries ripped each other apart. The victim's were jaws locked in horror, their muscles straining as the blood in their veins warped and moved, forcing their unwilling bodies into action.

Aephion roared as he was attacked from all sides, sending out a blast of wind to hold his warriors at bay, unwilling to fight back against his own men. Travix started to whistle as he watched the devestation, grinning as the first half of the general's remaining soldiers fought under his guidance, desperately trying and failing to fight back against his control.

Suddenly Travix perked up, his mind left ringing in the aftermath of the message he had just received. "He'sh... in danger? What? That'sh never happened before..."

Travix turned away, towards the west, focusing his attention to where the message had come from. The warriors, feeling Travix's control slip, stumbled to a stop, much to the relief of their comrades. Before they could turn to take action against Travix, however, the blood dragon raised a paw, and clenched it. The dragons who had so recently been under his control exploded violently, their blood bursting out of their veins in vicious hardened spikes, tearing them to shreds. Aephion and the few remaining dragons howled in shock and horror as their comrades were obliterated, their blood rebelling against the rest of their bodies. The liquified remains of their friends flowed back towards the black and red dragon in a wave of sticky red gore.

Travix turned his head and opened his muzzle, allowing the gallons of blood to gush down his muzzle, revitalizing him. Whatever he could not swallow, washed over his body, hardening into blood plates over his now full-plate armour. Everyone around him watched, mortified as he slurped down every last drop of blood, licking his muzzle once finished. The red glow in his eyes faded as the blood fury ended, and Travix gave a cheeky wink to Aephion, before turning and launching himself into the air, flying off to find his master once more.

...

"I haven't been away five minutes and the battle already started without me? What a mess." Jaxar sighed as he glided into the observatory. Jaxar grimaced as he gazed down at the melee below and shook his head, leaning over the rail.

"I had hoped that they wouldn't just charge in at the first sign of danger. Must I babysit that fool every moment of the day?" Jaxar grumbled. He stepped up onto the railing, wobbling as he balanced himself, arms spread out to his sides. He looked back down again, his eyes seeking out the largest squad of Dragon Realm Soldiers he could find. Then, he stepped off into the open air. The sorcerer plummeted down, gripping his staff in one hand, his other keeping hold of his robes, to avoid them riding up immodestly. The half-breed whispered an incantation, bracing his feet together as he sped like an arrow to the ground. A burst of wind and fire erupted around his feet, swirling up and around his body, moments before he struck the ground. The explosion was small yet devastatingly powerful. The scorched debris of dirt and plant life was spotted with the torn remains of those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast.

Jaxar rose, dusting his robes off. He glanced around at the small crater around him, roots sticking up from the mud, and body parts raining from the sky. He smirked at the groaning figures around him and stepped over the bodies, shoving them out of the way with the butt of his staff. Jaxar slipped away from the carnage before any of the survivors could recover and strode into the wreckage of a nearby building, scorched from its proximity to the explosion.

Nearby warriors, having seen the blast, came rushing and stopped, horrified at the sight before them. A yellow dragon glanced around as they raced forward to help the survivors up, trying to see what had caused it. Jaxar smiled from within the building, and reached out with one hand, and traced a glowing rune into the air. He touched the brilliant orange symbol with a single finger, and then dragged it out in front of him, to point at the dragon. Jaxar whispered a single word, guttural and harsh, and then flicked the rune at the drake.

The rune struck the dragon on the side of the head, just above his eye and blazed. The dragon flinched, his eyes widening in confusion, only to glaze over. He stared at his allies stupidly for a moment, and then a snarl of rage crossed his face. The armoured yellow dragon let out a roar of fury and fear and reared up, lightning crackling in his clenched muzzle. The others looked up, and screamed as arcs of lightning tore into them, tearing them apart as the dragon blasted the area with a wash of lightning, striking the whole and injured alike. Burned bodies fell to the earth, twitching as the dragon stopped, quivering in panic. The dragon roared again and turned, racing off to another group of combatants, lightning blazing over his body. Jaxar smirked in satisfaction.

The sorcerer hefted up his robes, and climbed the broken stairs up to the next floor, where he sat down, examining the battle around him. Screams and clashes of steel resonated throughout the jungle, shouts echoing in the vast spaces between the massive trees. Jaxar sighed.

"I must admit, after years of planning, this will be a fairly disappointing end to it all, if everything works out as planned. Not even three weeks and the war is almost over." Jaxar yawned. He leaning onto the edge of a broken wall, watching as the berserk lightning dragon was cut down by two fire dragons and a mallet wielding mole. He sighed once more as his eyes drift over the battlefield and then stop, fixed on a wavering banner not too far off. He smiled. "I suppose I should make the most of this then."

Jaxar gripped the edge of the broken wall tightly, and then vaulted off, throwing himself over the ledge. He hit the ground with a thump, landing on all fours. Then he took off, running with incredible speed towards the combatants, a sickly sweet grin spread lover his cowled face. The sorcerer swung his staff at a dragon's head, smirking as a deep thunk reverberated through his arm. The drake's head split open, showering Jaxar with a rain of gore. He moved on. From off to the side, a feline howled with rage, charging the cloaked figure, its swords slashing out in front of it. Jaxar ducked the first two swings, caught one on his staff and then punched the feline in the face with a gloved hand.

The feline stumbled back, clutching at his face in shock, his weapon falling to the ground. Jaxar raised his hand and clenched it. The rune he had just pounded onto the feline's forehead blazed, and the feline screamed in agony, clutching at his head and clawing at his eyes as they boiled in his skull. Jaxar skipped past the feline and raced away, pushing his hand forward and blasting aside all those who got in his way. Seconds later, a huge _boom_ rippled through the air, followed by a wash of fire and splatters of blood. Jaxar came to a halt, glancing back only once to see the devastation behind him. He nodded in satisfaction.

The banner ahead of him stopped and turned to the explosion, forcing its way through the crowd towards it. Jaxar hissed an incantation, his left hand swiftly carving three runes with smooth twists of his hands. The banner broke through the crowd, into the small clearing Jaxar had blasted clear.

Prowlus was lightly armoured in chain and leather, with a golden circlet about his head. He bore a spear in one hand and a long, curved blade in the other. He rode a small, stout war horse, which snorted and pawed at the earth as the battle raged around it. Jaxar lifted his hand and hurled the runes at the mount. Prowlus's eyes widened, and he threw himself from the horse as the runes struck it, hitting the floor at a roll.

The sky flashed, rocking thunder reverberating through the sky as three bolts of lighting streaked down, simultaneously striking the stead, reducing it to ash instantly. Jaxar spat out a curse, still grinning.

Prowlus rolled to his feet, and turned to Jaxar, panting. His eyes flicked over to the disintegrated remains of his mount, and snorted, turning to Jaxar wearily.

"So, you're that mage Spyro and Cynder fought in the tower." Prowlus growled, helping the banner bearer to his feet. Several other mounted warrior cheetahs burst from the crowd, to stand beside their king.

"Indeed. My name is Jaxar." The robed half-breed said, bowing low to Prowlus. "I am honoured to meet you, your highness."

Prowlus snarled, and thrust his spear forward. Jaxar stepped to the side, and batted the spear away with a sweep of his staff. Jaxar retaliated with a swing of the crystal topped stave, arcing it towards the king's crowned head. Prowlus ducked, and stepped quickly back, sneering.

"I am equally honoured to be the one to kill you." Jaxar smirked, stepping forward and sweeping his staff back around to strike again. Prowlus stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding the swing, taking several large bounds back to get out of the sorcerer's range. One of the warriors to the side charged forward, lowering his spear at the sorcerer. Jaxar hissed, and thrust his staff forward to meet the soldier. A blazing lance of fire from the staff ripped through the cheetah, who screamed as he toppled, smoking from the horse, which panicked and galloped away into the throng.

Prowlus hissed, and rushed forward, the remaining four warriors galloping along beside their king. Snorting, Jaxar planted his staff in the ground, and held out both hands. Lightning crackled along his fingertips and exploded outward, a storm of electricity twisting towards the five. A heavily armoured cheetah knight dived between the king and the bolts of lightning, catching them square in the chest. His body jerked and spasmed as the bolts seared through him, stray bolts arcing past to strike the raised weapons born by the other riders, causing them to howl in pain, toppling off of their steeds. Smoke billowed out of the knight's visor, sparks of electricity arcing over the metal plate, as the cooked cat teetered and fell, crashing to the ground.

Jaxar spat another curse, smiling broadly as Prowlus leapt over the fallen knight, roaring in rage, his saber flashing towards Jaxar's neck. The sorcerer grabbed his staff, and jumped backward, fending off the blow and landing unceremoniously on his backside. Prowlus swept his spear, catching the staff and hurling it away. Jaxar rolled to his feet as Prowlus stabbed down at him, and backpedalled away. Prowlus laughed darkly as Jaxar came to a stop several meters away, glowering at the feline monarch.

"You mages are so high and mighty when out of sword range, but the moment we get in close, you lose all steam, because the truth is you are no harder to kill than any other 'mortal.'"

A sudden smile broke over Jaxar's face, and he reached into the pouch dangling on his hip. He drew out a small set of iron knuckles, etched with symbols and slid them onto his left hand. With his other hand, he bent down and grabbed a long, hard leaf lying on the ground. He raised it up, holding the leaf securely under the middle three fingers of his hand, with his thumb and little finger supporting it from beneath. Jaxar whispered several short words as he held the leaf aloft, the wizard balancing on his toes as he took up a fighting stance. The leaf went ridged, snapping flat, sunlight catching it, glancing off of it as if it were a dagger of steel. Jaxar raised the leaf blade in his hand, his fingers running lengthwise down the leaf as he held it before him.

"En garde." Jaxar smirked, his form tense and ready for attack, the battle raging around them. Prowlus snorted, hefting his spear and started forward, slashing aside a panther who got in his way. The king picked up speed as he neared Jaxar, who stood stalk still, watching Prowlus carefully as he raised his spear for the kill. Just as the spear came in range, Jaxar flicked his wrist to the side, striking his leaf against the haft of the spear, knocking it out of the way. Jaxar's hand then stabbed forward with the long, hand length leaf-blade. Prowlus slipped to the side, wincing as the leaf blade grazed his chest, slicing neatly through the chain mail, drawing blood. Prowlus retaliated with a swipe of his sword, and spat a curse as Jaxar neatly twirled away.

Prowlus stepped back to gain some room, but Jaxar stepped with him, his hand lashing forward in a flurry of stabs at Prowlus's chest. The feline was forced to drop his spear, and grip his saber in both hands to fend off the avalanche of blows, the deflected leaf cutting him here and there on the shoulders and arms. Abruptly, Jaxar's other fist came speeding towards Prowlus's head, who narrowly ducked. A blast of energy from the fist caused the king to stumble, and behind him he heard a scream from an unlucky panther, who was caught in the blast of force and was hurled into a massive tree trunk.

The king recovered quickly, rolling to the side, swinging his sword at the sorcerer once more. Jaxar gasped as the blade bit into his leg, and he stepped back, wobbling as he nearly lost his balance. Prowlus grinned as Jaxar panted, sweat beading his brow, soaking into the wispy fur that covered his scaled, malformed face.

"Having trouble, oh mighty mage?"

Jaxar smiled. "You're very good. Far better than your grandfather was."

Prowlus blinked. "Wait, wha..."

Jaxar dropped the leaf, and thrust his right fist forward, still smiling. A beam of brilliant yellow light exploded out of his hand and slammed into Prowlus. The feline howled in agony the blast burning clean through his chest plate, and scorching his torso. Jaxar let his hand fall, and raised his other fist, stepping forward. He thrust that one forward too and a bar of infernal flame burst from his fist, crackling maliciously as it raced towards the feline. One of the warriors disarmed by Jaxar's lightning rose and tackled her king's legs, bringing him to the ground just as the bar of blue-white flame soared passed. The blast caught a heavily armoured fire drake on the side. The drake yowled a piercing scream as the blast seared a hole clean through it. It continued on, ripping through the ranks of soldiers, feran and dragon alike. It finally vanished after blazing through one of the massive trees of the jungle, leaving a scorched hole into the trunk of the tree.

"I'll have to pay a visit to that village of yours sometime. I've heard it's grown substantially since my last visit. Almost into a city!" Jaxar continued, letting his hand fall as he grinned over at the downed king.

Prowlus groaned, and rolled onto his side, his eyes blazing in anger. Jaxar raised his hand, and gestured to his staff, lying in the turf nearby. The stave twitched, and then soared off the ground, spinning through the air back to the half-breed's hand, clipping a canine's head along the way. Jaxar grabbed it as it sped towards him and twirled it about in his hand, before planting it in the ground, leaning up to examine the crystal.

"Y... You couldn't... you couldn't have!" Prowlus gasped, shivering in pain as the sorcerer glided towards him, swiping his staff at any warrior who got too close. Jaxar's steps wobbled only slightly as blood flowed down his leg, staining his vibrant purple robes.

The soldier who had tackled Prowlus, rose, gripping the king's saber, panting as Jaxar approached. A crooked smile etched across Jaxar's face at the sight.

"Don't get any closer!" The feline declared, brandishing her weapon. "I'll gut you for what you've done!"

Jaxar paused and then deliberately took another step forward, grinning. The cheetah jerked, fangs grinding as the sorcerer took yet another step, and laughed.

"How very brave of you! Not many would willingly put themselves in my line of fire. You king should be proud to have a warrior such as yourself."

Jaxar raised his hand and threw it forward, a crackling ball of lightning sparking in his palm. The bolt lashed forward and struck the cheetah square in the head. Prowlus flinched as blood and giblets splattered over him, his expression horrified. The sorcerer chuckled and stepped over the headless body of the cheetah warrior, towards Prowlus.

"A shame you had to die, isn't that right, Prowlus?"

Prowlus pushed himself shakily to his feet, and glared at the smirking mage with utter loathing.

"You... You're..."

Jaxar raised his staff, and swiped it at Prowlus's legs. It collided against his knees with a crunch, and the cheetah howled, toppling to the ground.

"I'm what?" Jaxar asked, his eyes bright with curiosity as he stood over the fallen cheetah.

"You're dead."

Jaxar blinked in surprise, and turned just in time to be struck by a ball of fire. He let out a startled gasp as he was flung, spinning into the air by the bolt, landing hard on his back. Jaxar groaned, his robes smoldering at the point of impact, the furred, scaly flesh blackened from the flames.

"Or you'll wish you'll be, once I'm done with you." Inferna snarled, bounding through the horde, glaring at the fallen sorcerer. Jaxar looked up, dazed. He stared dumbly as the ferans and panthers turned, pouring past him in droves as they were routed. The bloodied purple robed half-breed moaned, and tried to rise, but his injured leg gave out, and he slumped back onto the earth, panting.

"Well damn... It appears your surprise attack has left me completely unable to defend myself." Jaxar murmured, laying sprawled on the blackened earth. Around him, the forces of cheetahs, dragons and canines whooped and rushed after the retreating jungle folk.

"Good work Inferna." Terrador rumbled, emerging from the swarm of soldiers. "You deal with the magician, I'll take Prowlus back to camp."

"You are **not** carrying me there like a sack of **turnips**!" Prowlus objected as the Guardian of Stone lifted the cheetah king, and placed him carefully on his back.

"You aren't in much of a condition to argue, your highness." Terrador grunted, a small smile tugging at his eyes. "Hold on, it may get rough up there."

Inferna nodded to Terrador as he lifted off, ignoring the sharp rebukes from Prowlus as he flew away. Jaxar groaned, and rolled over onto his side, reaching for his fallen staff. He let out a sharp breath of pain as he was pressed to the ground by Inferna's paw.

"None of that now." She growled, her hazel eyes flashing. "I have some questions for you."

"Ask away." Jaxar grimaced, his eyes squeezed shut as her claws dug into his sides, her paw pressed against he burned flesh of his chest. "I'm not in a position to refuse."

"Excellent. Now, where's Lyrith?"

One of Jaxar's eyes opened a crack and he looked up at her with amusement.

"Lyrith?"

"Yes, the Albino. Where is he and what have you done with him? I **know** you're responsible for bringing him here. So talk."

"Not the question I had anticipated, but alright. I left him in a cell in my lab, I have plans for that boy. What's your relationship with him anyway? You're too old, so you can't be..."

Inferna snarled and pressed down harder, cutting Jaxar off. "I'm the one asking questions here, not you. **Where** is your **lab**?"

"Which one? I have many."

"Don't toy with me! Where is the one you're keeping Lyrith!"

"In a cave under a tree." Jaxar snickered, amused at her furious expression.

Inferna snarled, smoke billowing out from her nostrils. "I'll ask you one last time, if you don't answer straight, then I'll burn a sorcerer shaped hole in the ground."

Jaxar smiled and turned his gaze away from Inferna. Inferna frowned and turned to follow his gaze. Out of the foliage high above, a dark shape shot down, blurring through the branches of the trees, and dodging past clusters of combatants. Inferna's eyes widened as it raced towards her like a dark red comet, and she jumped out of the way. It shot past where she had been moments ago, and hit the ground. A spray of earth exploded upwards as it skidded along the forest floor, leaving a groove in the earth.

"I MISSHED!" Travix cursed, shaking the dirt off of its thick, blood red plates of armour, snorting.

Inferna turned to the dragon, snarling. Then she glanced over at the sorcerer, who was pulling himself into a sitting position several meters away.

"Travix! Good for you to come!" Jaxar called, waving weakly to the dragon. "I was beginning to wonder if you were too preoccupied to come help me out."

The blood armoured dragon padded over to his master, grimacing. "You're really meshed up, Jaxar. If neffer sheen you sho badly hurt."

Inferna stepped forward, growling. Travix sneered, and raised a paw. The blood coating his paw suddenly liquified, and shot forward. Inferna jerked to the side, and gasped as the spikes of blood slashed her shoulder, forcing her back. Travix turned back to Jaxar, who had somehow managed to rise to his feet and was leaning on his staff, panting.

"You wouldn't mind giving me a lift back to the palace, would you?" The sorcerer asked, smiling sweetly.

"Off courshe not." Travix grunted, stepping up beside the wavering sorcerer.

"No you don't!" Inferna hissed as Jaxar started to climb onto Travix's back. The purple clad magician turned as Inferna rushed forward, her eyes blazing. He smirked and raised his free hand, his fingers flickering and tracing a sharp rune into the air and flicked it at her. It struck her just as she began to inhale. Inferna opened his muzzle to blast the two with fire, but blinked in surprise when only a puff of smoke billowed out from her maw. Jaxar grinned as Travix took off, and saluted to the Guardian.

"I look forward to the day we may continue our conversation on more equal footing, Miss Guardian of the Flame! But until then, we must part ways!"

Inferna growled, and took off after the pair as they ascended into the trees, but was forced to descend as the archers above rained arrows down upon her. The red, flame patterned dragoness landed, spitting furiously as she pounded her paw into the earth, gazing up as the two vanished into the swarming melee above. After a few moments of glaring, she sighed and turned away, heading towards the closest cluster of combatants, her jaw clenched in frustration.

_"Next time we meet, I won't hesitate to finish the job."_

_..._

Ramolous panted as he gazed out over the blood drenched slums from one of the mighty trees, expression stark as he watched his warriors being routed. Around him, a dozen dragons lay slain, blood pouring in ribbons from their lacerated bodies. The city below was a flurry of motion, streams of Dragon Realm soldiers swarming steadily onward into the ramshackle dwellings easily overcoming all resistance they encountered. Vast gaps were forced open between his troops as they gathered to the pyres to demolish them, allowing the foe to simply slip through the holes and surround his warriors from all sides.

"Dammit!" The prince hissed, clenching his paw in helpless fury as the foe closed in around his people. "This isn't how it was supposed to happen!"

"My lord?" An armoured feran murmured, frightened as he stepped up to the prince. "We're being butchered! Please, call the retreat!"

"SILENCE!" Ramolous growled, turning on the feran, who jumped in shock. The prince snorted, and turned back, his gaze distant. He watched with growing horror as the people below slaughtered one another, a nauseating vice clenching his stomach. His fangs ground together as blood soaked into the earth below like water, staining the soil red.

Ramolous flinched as one of the feran fliers below was shot down and plummeted to the earth screaming. His revulsion swelled, and he tried to force it down, waves of confusion battering his mind as he wrestled with the sudden urge to be sick. Finally, unable to take the torment any longer, he turned away from the scene and stomped back into the palace.

"Call the retreat." Ramolous murmured, his head drooping low to the ground, shoulders slumped. The soldier hesitated, puzzled, and then nodded. Ramolous stopped at the palace entrance and waited, fangs clenched together as the screech of steel and deathly screams rent the air far below. Then, a brazen horn bellowed out over the sounds of combat. Ramolous sighed at the note and glanced down at the war below. The battle faltered momentarily as each side determined what was happening. The warriors of the Realms cheered as the ferans and panthers turned tail and fled, scurrying back up the trees to the city above. Ramolous sighed and stepped into the dark halls of the palace.

The dark crimson dragon padded solemnly up to his throne and fell onto it, slumping wearily. He watched through the open gates as the warrior scurried up back onto the branches of his city, swarming over the wooden streets back into the shelter of the mighty trees. The maned dragon sat in silence, eyes lidded, face in his paws as the sounds of the enemy below whooped and cheered as they ransacked the slums. Ramolous perked up as a blood soaked dragon entered the throne room, a hunched over figure slouching on his back.

"Jaxar?" Ramolous murmured, shocked. "What happened!"

Jaxar waved a gloved hand to the prince as he rose from his carved throne and slid off Travix. He stumbled as he hit the ground, and leaned on his staff for support.

"One of those Guardians got a lucky shot at me. I will live, but I won't be able to continue the fight, your grace." Jaxar wheezed, clutching at his side.

Ramolous sat back, dazed, staring at his advisor in shock. "Are you certain you don't need...?"

"No." Jaxar said, sharply. "I do not need attention. Several crystals and a few days rest will do me just as much good as the medicine and pandering of the court healers. Besides, we still have work to do."

"Yes, you're right." Ramolous sighed, standing and turning away from the pair. "Come, we should speak in private."

Jaxar nodded and took a wobbling step forward, before grimacing. He reached down into his pouch and produced several large life crystals. The sorcerer causally flicked them into his mouth and crunched down on them with his crooked fangs, swallowing the shards. Rejuvenated, the half-breed sorcerer took off after Ramolous, his stride gaining strength as he moved, Travix loping along behind him.

"Dammit!" Ramolus cursed, finally unable to hold himself back. He slammed a paw into the wall, spitting in rage. "Why aren't things going the way we planned!"

"That is the nature of things." Jaxar answered, his voice taking on a resonant, mysterious tone. "It is rare for anything to ever go according to plan."

"Cut that out!" Ramolous snarled shooting a glare back to the sorcerer as he pushed the door to his room open. "I'm not in the mood for your games!"

"As you wish, my lord." Jaxar said, dropping the mystic tone, a smirk flashing across his face, before melting away.

"I'd hoped that we'd at least be able to hold them off for a few days, before it'd come to this."

Jaxar stopped at the entrance of the room and watched as Ramolous flopped down on his bed, sighing.

"I wasn't prepared for this." The prince groaned, putting a paw to his forehead. "I've been away from it all for so long, that I've forgotten the horrors of war. And knowing that it was I that brought this down on so many is heartrending."

"Did you not anticipate this?" Jaxar asked, stepping into the room. He shut the door behind him, leaving Travix outside to guard the entrance.

"Yes, but I had forgotten what it meant." Ramolous sighed and rolled over on his bed, moping.

"So you're just going to give up? After everything we've gone through to get here? You're just going to let the purple and his minions have their way with your people? The world?"

"NO!" Ramolous shouted, jumping to his paws and whirling to face Jaxar. "Never! It is just that I can no longer allow my subjects to suffer for me. Too many have died already now. My goal has been accomplished, it is time to take responsibility for it."

Jaxar nodded, and stepped forward. "Do not put so much blame on yourself. Remember, this is for the greater good."

Ramolous took a deep, drawn out breath, and then let it out slowly. "Yes... yes you're right." The prince was silent for another moment, and then looked up at Jaxar. "Is it ready?"

Jaxar's expression cracked, his smile twisting into a frown. "I'm afraid not." The sorcerer raised a hand as he saw the rage fill Ramolous's face, to cut him off before he could speak out. "There are still too many variables, and you haven't been properly attuned to it yet for me to transfer the crystal's power completely over to you. The overload of power would just as likely kill you as give you the power you seek."

"So then what? Everything led up to this! I simply don't have the power to defeat the purple without aid!" Ramolous spat, turning away and stalking over to the window. "You've been working for three years on that crystal, ever since I sent you on that expedition to retrieve it! And for all this time, it still isn't ready?"

"It would be simple to transfer a small amount of its energy to you, my grace." Jaxar apologized, bowing. "But that would hardly be enough to defeat the purple, or his companions. "And it simply refuses to be receptive to your influence. It just isn't compatible with you in your current state."

Ramolous snorted, shaking his head.

"Do not fret too much, my lord." Jaxar said, soothingly, stepping up to the prince. "There is still the back up crystal. It is perfectly in-tuned with you, and will put you on even footing with even the mightiest of purples. It won't be a one sided fight, but your training with it should give you more than sufficient power to end the purple scourge before it burns you out."

Ramolous sighed once more, letting his anger die away. "Yes, once again, you're right. You've already done so much for me, I suppose I shouldn't be angry at you for this failure."

"I am grateful, your grace." Jaxar murmured, bowing with a flourish.

Ramolous smiled. He padded past Jaxar, over to the door. He glanced out of it, and spoke to Travix outside.

"Go fetch a courier. Bring one to me immediately." Ramolous ordered, his voice sharp and commanding. Then, Ramolous slammed the door in Travix's face, turning away. Jaxar forced back a laugh upon seeing his student's incredulous expression.

"Now, I suppose I should finish composing this." Ramolous grunted, taking a seat at his desk and pulling out a quill.

"My lord has taken up a hobby! Why was I never informed of this? What shall your great ballad be titled?" Jaxar chuckled, jokingly as he moved alongside the prince. Ramolous rolled his eyes, a smile cracking over his sombre expression.

"Yes, it shall be my honorary ballad for slaying the mighty purple! It will be named Ode to the Violet Slayer!"

Jaxar laughed, and Ramolous joined in. The prince sobered after a moment and shook his head.

"No, it is not a poem to commemorate my greatness. I doubt I will ever receive one once this is all over. If anything it will be a ballad reviling me, but I shall be content with such."

"Such is the fate of one who seeks the greater good, over the common good." Jaxar sighed wistfully.

Ramolous nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

The prince dipped his quill into a pot of ink, and started scribbling down on the parchment before him. Jaxar took a seat on one of the massive cushions of the bed and watched the prince work lazily. Several minutes later, a knock clattered at the door and Ramolous glanced up.

"Come in."

The door creaked open and a young feraness peered in. "My lord?"

"I said come in!" Ramolous barked, then his voice softened. "No need to be shy."

The feraness slipped in and bowed, swallowing hard. "R... reporting for duty, your majesty."

"I want you to deliver this letter to the commanding officers of the army. The one who has taken up residence downstairs." Ramolous murmured, slipping the letter into an envelope, and sealing it with a blob of wax. He pressed his signet ring into the wax, and waved the letter lightly in the air to let it cool faster.

The feraness swallowed hard. "Y... you want me to... I mean yes! Yes your majesty!"

Ramolous smiled. "Good. Make sure to bear a standard of truce when you approach. I do not want you to get killed, before or after you deliver the you have delivered it, return here immediately. We cannot trust them to uphold their hospitality to a flag of truce."

The feraness nodded, a scarlet flush of pride starting to spread across her cheeks as she accepted the letter. "It would be an honour, your majesty! I will make sure it reaches its destination."

Ramolous smiled as the courier turned and strutted from the room, then he turned to Jaxar.

"When she returns, if she returns, make sure she receives her reward." Ramolous tossed the sorcerer a small pouch and Jaxar caught it. He peeked in side and raised an eye brow. He shut the bag and bounced it in his hand, feeling the weight of the coins and gems in his palm.

"This is a dangerous mission, especially if the purple dragons are the ones to greet her, she should not go without compensation for her deed."

Jaxar nodded and rose, dusting off his robes. "Her valor will be justly rewarded, I assure you."

Ramolous smiled and gestured his thanks. Jaxar bowed and paced from the room. Ramolous let out a deep breath once the door had shut behind Jaxar and turned back to his desk. He sat there for a time, eyes shut, shoulders slumped as he steadied himself for what was to come. Then he sighed and stood, shaking his mane out. He reached around and unbraided the thick plait that fell across his shoulder, allowing the strands of hair to fall loosely about his head. The prince pulled off the thick fur cloak draped over his back and stood bare in the center of his room. His eyes closed shut as he breathed in the sweet scent from the floral candles scattered about his room.

Then, he opened his eyes and meandered over to the other side of his chamber, his eyes wandering over the rich furniture and decorations, taking everything in. He reached a small, dusty alcove where a pedestal was set, a tiny tombstone monument placed at the top with a vase of flowers. Ramolous sighed and kneeled, lowering his head to the ground so that his chin touched the wooden floor.

"It's been a while since I've prayed, ancestors." Ramolous admitted, letting out his pent up breath in a rush. "But now is the time I need your guidance more than ever." The prince waited, his eyes shut as he listened. There was no sound but the gust of wind blustering outside. "I know that I'm not the best of dragons, and that I've caused may horrible things in the past years, and I know I probably don't deserve your aid, but I still wish to ask." Ramolous paused again and then continued, urged on by the silence. "In a matter of days, I will be joining you, and that I will be judged for my actions on that day, but I wish to receive your blessing during my final hours. I will not beg, for I will not force myself upon your mercy should you find me unworthy, but this final comfort is all I ask of you."

Ramolous fell silent, raising his head to gaze up at the ceiling, his eyes distant. He waited for many long moments, inhaling deeply as he listened for a sign. Nothing came. He shut his eyes and bowed his head. "So be it. I will do all in my power to do what I believe is right, and whatever judgement you bestow upon me, I will accept with grace and dignity... And mother, if you're listening to me, I will see to it that no one suffers to them as you did. I swear."

Unable to think of anything else he wished to say, he padded back over to his bed and lay down on the soft cushions. He shut his eyes as he enjoyed the warm comfort of his embroidered bed, and snuggled deeper into it. Finally, after several more minutes he rose, and pushed aside the pillows to reveal the compartment embedded into the wood of the floor. Grunting, he shook his head, his unbound mane whipping around his head, the gold beads woven into his hair slipping free and fell to the ground twinkling. He snorted and turned away, swiping a paw and scattering the gold beads to the corners of his room. He padded over to his desk, and pulled out the key he kept hidden in the drawers. Key in paw, Ramolous slipped back to his bed and unlocked the safe, pulling out the pale crystal.

The feran prince examined it carefully, checking for any flaws in its pure white surface. Satisfied, he raised it up, cradling it to his chest.

"You are my last hope." Ramolous whispered, stroking the cool surface. He grimaced as he felt the cold pressure tug at his chest, but did not put the crystal down. "Please, do not fail me."

Finished his prayer, the large feran rose onto his hind paws and raised the crystal into the air, shutting his eyes as he focused upon it. The crystal flashed and wisps of colourless energy poured from it, wrapping around Ramolous's ivy tattooed forelegs, as it creeped down to his chest. The misty white energy stopped over his heart, and then abruptly dug deep into his flesh. Ramolous's eyes flashed open in shock, his muzzle falling open in agony as the crystal exploded with pale radiance, the mist flooding from the stone and into the prince's body.

Ramolous writhed in pain, muscles spasming as the power coursed through him, muzzle hanging open in a silent scream. Then, as soon as it had come, the surge ceased, the mist fading away into the prince's flesh. Ramolous staggered back, muscles twitching in the aftermath as he dropped the now grey stone, panting. The prince fell onto his bed, chest heaving as he tried vainly to calm his hammering heart, eyes shut tight, tears of pain trickling down his face. Slowly, he looked up, and raised his paws to his face. His once dark scarlet scales were now dulled to a light crimson, almost pink. Pale lines twisted in incomprehensible patterns over his forelegs and chest, bleaching his body with stains of white. A slow smile creeped over the prince's face and Ramolous laughed delightedly.

"Yes!" He groaned, rolling over onto his belly, his heart finally starting to slow. "Yes! That was... that was AMAZING!"

The door to Ramolous's room slammed open and a squad of panthers burst in, weapons raised.

"Your majesty!" The lead panther exclaimed. "Is everything all..." The warrior paused, frowning at the strange colours that made up Ramolous's body, confused.

"Yes, everything is alright." Ramolous grinned, rising to face the guards. "In fact, everything is perfect! Hah! Go on, return to your posts! We cannot have those sneaky evildoers bellow trying to catch us unawares, now can we?"

The soldiers glanced at each other puzzled, but obeyed. They filed out of the room, and the leader cast one last hesitant glance back before shutting the door. Ramolous sighed, the wide grin stretched across his muzzle fading.

"Two days from now." Ramolous whispered, laying back down on his bed. "Two days and everything will fall into place, and everything will be good once more..." Ramolous yawned and blinked, staring up at the wooden ceiling. Then he groaned and rose back up to his paws. "I suppose I should conduct my will. It is unlikely I will have another chance." The prince shuffled over to his desk once more, and yawned as he took a seat on the pillow. He produced a fresh quill and parchment and started scribbling.

"First, the lions share of my wealth will go to rebuilding the city and as an endowment for all those who lost family members because of my actions. The next portion shall go to..."

...

Jaxar breathed in the moist, warm air as he shut the door behind him and turned to face Travix. The blood dragon was leaning against the wall of the palace, gazing out over the balcony at the jungle below.

"I hate running errandsh like shome kind of page drake." The long fanged dragon grumbled unhappily, sitting up and stretching.

"Luckily you won't likely have to suffer that indignity again." Jaxar said, his lips peeled back over his crooked teeth in a wide grin. "At least, not to anyone other than me."

"You're tashks aren't menial jobsh, they're like gamesh." Travix murmured, snorting. "Actually fun."

"Well, if you're in the mood for a game, then I have a couple for you." Jaxar murmured, bouncing the pouch of coins in his hand. "I need you to go back to the lab and retrieve the white dragon and everything else of value in there. Kill everything in there, and then invert the wards. The explosion should cause enough of a distraction that you can escape back here with everything before they can find you."

"Exshellent!" Travix grinned, his fangs flashing in the rising moonlight as they padded away from the prince's chambers.

"Then, I want you to deliver our personal gratitude to the courier you just brought here, for her excellent service."

Travix turned to look at Jaxar, eying the bouncing pouch in his hand. Jaxar smirked and casually tossed the pouch over his shoulder, into the open air. It tumbled through the emptiness, down to the earth far below. Travix grinned wickedly.

"Shuch good shervishe should not go unrewarded, right mashter?"

"Right." The cowled mage agreed, a honey sweet smile creasing his face. "And the reward should fit the deed."

* * *

The wind rushed into the warehouse as the door was forced open. A small band of cheetahs, dragons and canines barged in, weapons at the ready, with fire, lighting and shadow crackling on the muzzles of the three drakes. Behind them, the cheers and whoops of their victorious army carried through the air as the soldiers looted and pillaged the lower city.

Seeing noone, the squad of ten soldiers quickly spread out to search the warehouse for anything of value they could take back with them to camp. The warehouse was filled with empty crates and barrels, broken planks of wood lying about on the ground. After several minutes of searching, a brawny husky dog growled and kicked at some planks, snarling in irritation.

"Great! Just great! Had to pick the big ware house. 'It's big' he says, 'got to have lots of stuff' he says! Look at what we got for our trouble: Nothing!"

"Ah, quit your moaning, mut." One of the cheetahs sighed, rubbing at his head with a gloved hand. "There has to be something here. There's no such thing as a completely empty ware house, especially one this big. We'll find something eventually."

"Yeah, maybe after a month or two." A grey furred feline grumbled bitterly, rolling his eyes. The first feline ignored him, and continued on, shoving over crates and barrles, hoping something would spill out.

"Hey, guys?" The black shadow dragon murmured tentatively, catching his squad's attention. "I... er... think I may have found something..."

"What is it?" The fire dragon grumbled, huffing, causing two rings of smoke to billow out of his nostrils as he moved up beside the black dragon. The black dragon nodded down the the crate in front of him and pushed it aside, revealing a trap door beneath it.

"Well well, now that is something." The husky grumbled, grinning as the others gathered around. They all stared down at the trap door for a moment, before the earth dragon grunted.

"You going to open it up, kid? You did find it after all."

"Oh... right." The shadow dragon said, smiling sheepishly. He grabbed the thick, iron ring attatched to the door and heaved. The trapdoor held for a fraction of a second, before finally giving way and swinging open. A burst of dust and fetid air gushed out, causing the shadow drake to stagger back, coughing. The others laughed and then crowded around to look down. A long, narrow staircase greeted them, leading down into the darkness far below. The shadow dragon glanced up at his companions. They gestured for him to go first. The shadow drake swallowed nervously and started down, his eyes straining for any sign of light.

The darkness pressed down on the squad as they marched down the stairs, the three dragons just barely fitting into the tight gap. Faint noises echoed up the stair well, barely discernable as they rebounded against the walls. A mere speck of light shone in the distance, letting the ten know that something did actually lay beyond, at the very end of the tunnel. Finally, after many long minutes of wandering, they came to a small chamber, lit by two tiny lanturns.

Moving cautiously, the armoured husky drew his sword and crept up to the single door leading onward. The mut glanced behind him as he gripped the handle in one hand, checking to see if his allies were ready to back him up. Then, he threw open the door and leapt out, brandishing his sword. He was faced with a long, dark cellar hall, with multiple doors lining the span of the corridor. Seeing that there was nobody there, the soldiers relaxed, letting their blades and claws drop from the readied position. The husky pushed on ahead, his eyes scanning the hall as the shadow drake picked up one of the lanturns from the first room, to help light their way.

"Looks like this place was guarded." The fire drake muttered, gazing at the stool sitting against one side of the hall, the red dragon grabbing a flagon sitting at its side. "There's still booze in this. Whoever was here must've left in a hurry."

"The doors are locked!" The grey furred feline huffed, kicking at the steel doors. "Dammit!"

"Calm down, there's got to be a key in here somewhere. There's always a spare." The cheetah leader spat, walking down the length of the hall, towards the thick door on the other side. "You guys keep a look out for anything of value here. I'll go on ahead and see if I can find the keys. If anything comes up, I'll give you all a shout."

"Gotcha sarge!" A spear bearing golden retriever barked from the back, saluting the cheetah. They then turned back to searching the hall, looking for anything valuable enough to carry with them.

The cheetah leader moved on ahead, holding his spear at the ready as he continued down, the others spreading out to search the area, all on the alert. He reached the door and cautiously opened it, wincing as it creaked loudly. He waited a moment, weapon at the ready in case someone inside had heard the sound. When nothing happened, the cheetah sighed in relief and pushed open the door, still not relaxing his grip on his spear. The floor of the room inside was covered with shattered glass and broken wood. Chairs and tables were overturned, and various strange tools and devices lay amongst the wreckage, forgotten by whomever had destroyed the room.

The feline grunted, grimacing. "Great, finding keys here will be a pain." The cheetah set the butt of his staff on the ground once more and used it to push aside the wreckage, searching for any spare set of keys that might have fallen to the ground. Seeing nothing after a couple minutes of searching through the garbage, the sergeant sighed and moved to the cupboards, the only furniture in the room that remained standing upright.. The cheetah jerked open one of the drawers and glanced down into it. He blinked in surprise. Inside lay a set of keys, attached to a thick ring.

"Huh, first try. Lucky." The cheetah murmured, grabbing the keys and moving back to the hallway. "Got the keys, men!" He shouted down the hall. The soldiers whooped, having stopped searching the empty hallway to rest. They rose and quickly crowded around their sergeant, who pushed them aside. "Alright alright. Don't get in my way." He growled, prying open the ring to slide the keys off. "Each of you take a key and try to find out what it opens. Check the doors first."

The soldiers nodded in agreement, taking the keys and moving to check the doors. The cheetah watched as the soldiers shuffled around, most having to trade positions to check other doors. One or two managed to open them, but they were empty. The sergeant decided to sit down on the stool and lay back, grateful to get a moment of relaxation after weeks of marching and fighting. He picked up the flagon of booze and inspected it, trying to decide if it was worth taking a sip.

A sudden choking sound caught his attention,and he dropped the flagon, standing, the ceramic jug shattering on the ground as he grabbed his spear. Everyone stopped at the sound of the shadow drake taking a step back from one of the doors he had opened, a paw clenched over his muzzle.

"What is it?" The sergeant demanded, shoving his way over to the black dragon, to look inside. The black dragon shook his head, his eyes wide as he stared at what lay in the cell, jumping back with a squeak of fright as several fat, hairy spiders skittered out. The cheetah stomped on them as they tried to crawl under him and shoved the black dragon away to look in. He grimaced.

Laying in a corner of the cell, was a small dragon, though it was hard to tell his exact size due to the vicious swelling from the dozens of spider bites covering his body. Greenish spider guts covered his body from where he had obviously been thrashing, but his white scales still shone through. The Albino's body was ridged and frozen, with his paws raised up over his face, which was twisted into an expression of utter horror, his muzzle agape and glazed eyes wide and unblinking.

"Think... think he's still alive?" The earth dragon muttered behind the sargent as the cheetah slunk in, dropping his spear to inspect the poor dragon. Wiping away the goo with a gloved hand, the cheetah pressed an ear to the white dragon's swollen chest. He waited a moment before replying.

"He's alive. His heart's still beating strong, but it's weirdly erratic." The cheetah lifted his head away, and grasped one of the Albino's paws, trying to wrest it down, but failing. "Seems paralyzed, must be the spider venom." The sargent waved a hand over the Albino's unblinking eyes and sighed when they didn't follow the action, remaining fixed on the ceiling.

"Hey, aren't the guardians looking for an Albino?" The husky grunted from the entrance of the cell.

"Yeah, they are. Wonder if this is the guy?" The sergeant huffed rising to his feet, brushing off the dust from his jerken and pants. "Pick'im up. We'll take him to the clinic and see if they can take care of him. There's nothing else worth while here as it is. If it does turn out to be the same Albino, there might be a reward in it for us."

"Aye aye sir." The soldiers barked, saluting as the cheetah left the cell. They quickly moved in and hefted the unmoving colourless dragon onto the earth dragon's back. They lashed him into place and then quickly marched out, heading back up into the warehouse, figuring they had spent enough time away from the rest of the army as it was. The squad rushed out of the warehouse, jogging in formation around the earth dragon and Albino, heading straight for the clinic.

As the soldiers rounded the bend, disappearing from sight, a black and red striped dragon landed in front of the warehouse, his enourmous fangs glinting in the sunlight. The dragon glanced around, checking to see if anyone was watching and then rushed into the warehouse. He slunk away into the shadows, to do his master's bidding, not knowing that he was already too late.

**Dardarax's Characters:**

Inferna, Aephion.

Jaxar, Travix, Ramolus, Kaiser

Lyrith

This chapter is dedicated to my loving Grandma, who passed away not that long ago. I'll miss you Gramma. ;_;

Well, this chapter was a doozy. I had a lot of fun with this, especially the parts with Jaxar, and Ramolous. ^^ Though Travix's scene was annoying me to no end for the longest time. :/ There was actually going to be another scene added onto this chapter, which would have introduced a new character, however, since the character was relatively pointless, I decided to cut him, and his fight scene with Hunter (which was the only reason I even remotely considered keeping him at this point, he was the reason I was being held back for so long). The character is still in the chapter, he just no longer has a name, backstory or major role in the chapter; he was the Panther Marshal Ramolous was talking to near the beginning. I had to specifically change around the dialogue when removing his character, so it isn't exactly as it was originally intended, but that's fine, he would probably have only appeared twice in the entire story anyways.

So, the story behind this chapter is fairly interesting. You see, I was originally not looking forward to this chapter at all. It was basically, in my eyes, simply going to be another chapter 25, but without the drama, a cliff hanger ending, or the epic battle between Jaxar, Spyro, Cynder and the Behemoth. I didn't want to make just another war scene, I wanted to make this more unique. So, after sitting there contemplating for a while, I got an idea: "What if I did this chapter, not by the attacker's point of view, but the defenders. What if I switched the point of view around for just once, and made the bad guys the characters fighting against the good guys?" And there I had it, a unique, interesting chapter to write. This chapter also gives you all a much better view of Ramolous, which was sorely lacking up to this point. Up till now he's done bascially nothing, and has only plotted and ordered Jaxar around. Now you have a (slightly) better idea what this rouge feran is like. ^^ Excellent!

So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was a long time in coming, and I'm glad I can finally get it done, so I can move on. Next is chapter 29 (in case you can't count), which is, in my opinion, the second most important chapter in Dark Legacy, right after 26. The only reason 26 beat it, is because chapter 26 is key to the plot, and has a great deal of valuble information related to the plot involved in it. 29 however is less about the plot, and more about Lyrith. The difference in importance is by a mere hair's breath though, and the importance can quite easily be debated either way.

Thanks for reading. ^_^

Ps. Happy (late by two days) Birthday Deeth! ^.^


	29. Making Contact

Chapter 29. Making Contact

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Guardians, the Temple or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. To be or not to be, what was the question again? However, several of my characters are featured in this chapter. Their names are listed at the bottom._

The cool night air brushed through the leafy canopy of the trees high above. The night creatures' chirps and calls resounded through the emptiness between the mighty tree trunks, echoing hauntingly. The night sky was blocked out by the dark forest ceiling, but the crescent moon's light still found its way through the leaves to light up the verdant jungle floor. The dark slums of Grasbronda were alight with hundreds of camp fires scattered around the heart of the lower city. Cheers and sounds of laughter echoed up to the city above, as the army celebrated its victory.

At the center of the myriad of camp fires the war tent had been erected, dark and foreboding in the flickering shadows of the fires outside. Inside the Guardians looked over a map of the slums they had captured, marking valuable locations and points of interest on the sheet. Pyron was going through the countless sheets of paper that made up the reports of the battle, while Diatrax teased Prowlus nearby, who was sulking in his suit of bandages. Cyrine snoozed on his perch, head burrowed in his wing as he whistled out snores.

"Albiard, have the soldiers set up the fortifications yet?" Pyron grunted as Albiard, the mole king, entered the tent.

"Ai, zey be building zeh barricades now." Albiard murmured, shaking off the dew that had formed on his soft fur, and drawing himself up a stool. He climbed onto it, and dropped his hammer onto the table. "There hazn't been any ambushes since zeh battle. I sink we may have done more damage zen we first thought."

"Excellent." Pyron murmured, slamming the book of reports closed and dropping it onto the table, rubbing his eyes. "With any luck we'll be fortified enough to continue the assault tomorrow. We might even be able to wrap this 'war' up in..."

"Feran!"

Everyone started and glanced up, Pyron's mutterings cut off. The red dragon rose and marched over to the tent flap and stormed out, the Guardians and now wakened Cyrine following.

"What's going on!" Pyron bellowed as he stamped out of the tent, heading towards the nearest captain. The canine saluted, and gestured over to the grey wind drake racing towards them. Pyron turned to the figure as he skidded to a halt in front of him, bowing.

"What's this about a feran?" Cyrine demanded, the massive hawk fluffing his wings in agitation. He glowered down at the dragon prostrated before them, huffing indignantly.

The dragon rose, and pointed back behind him, breathing too hard to answer properly. Pyron, Cyrine and the Guardians looked up to where the drake pointed, and frowned. Soaring down from the treetops, a small blot descended. Squinting, they could just make out the maned, dark crimson figure of the feran, a flag of white gripped in her jaws.

"Is that a flag of truce, or of surrender?" Pyron wondered to himself as the feran swooped down to greet them.

"Hold yah fire, dammit!" Diatrax barked to a group of canines drawing back bows as he left the tent. "Have yah no respect for a flag of truce?"

The warriors dropped their bows, bowing their heads and shuffling their feet like chastised children. The old wolf huffed, shaking his head in disappointment at the young soldiers as he turned towards the approaching feran. Everyone waited with baited breath as the feran descended, wondering what message the jungle drake brought.

The soldiers moved aside as the feraness landed, leaving a wide clearing for the crimson dragoness. The feraness swallowed hard, glancing at the cold glares sent her way by the soldiers as she moved towards the kings, the flag gripped in her jaws.

The feraness came to a stop in front of the kings, and gazed up at them, forcing down a shiver of fright at their grim faces.

"Are you here to surrender?" Pyron asked, his deep voice gruff as he gazed down at the balking dragoness.

"Er... ye... no... I... I don't know." The feraness murmured, dropping the flag to speak, bowing her head in shame. "I... I came to deliver a letter from his Majesty."

The Guardians glanced at each other, raising their eyeridges dubiously. The feraness gulped hard upon seeing their expressions and quickly opened her satchel to fish out the envelope. She pawed it over to the kings, snatching her paws away the moment the king had a grip on it. She quickly backpedalled, grabbing the flag and moving to take off.

"Wait." Inferna shouted, causing the feran to stop dead in her tracks. "Shouldn't you wait to receive our reply?"

"Er... uh..." The feraness said, her eyes flickering about the camp anxiously. "Er... his majesty wanted me back right away. I... I'm only supposed to deliver the letter, not receive any."

The kings looked at each other, suspicion growing on their faces. The feraness hesitated for a moment, paling when she saw their faces and then took off. She flew as fast as she could away, as if expecting an arrow in the back at any moment. The Guardians and kings looked at each other, puzzled, and then glanced down at the letter.

"I guess we should see what this is about."

They filed back into their tent, glancing back to stare after the feran courier, their gazes puzzled. Pyron waited for everyone to settled down around the table, before slicing open the envelope with a claw. He pulled out the thick letter and carefully unfolded it, holding it at arm's length, in case there were any magical traps contained within. Everyone sighed with relief when nothing happened and then quickly crowded around to examine the letter. Prowlus read aloud.

_To the Lords and Guardians of the Dragon Realms,_

_I shall be frank, as there is no light way of putting what I am about to say on paper. I, Ramolous am the one who organized the attack on the Dragon Temple, and initiated this conflict._

"I knew it!" Cyril declared, slamming his paw down on the table with a growl. "That filthy conniving drake **was** responsible! By the noble blood of my ancestors, we shall reign a fury upon him like never seen b..."

_I confess this, knowing all that it entails for me,_

Prowlus continued on, ignoring Cyril.

_The sin committed is mine and mine alone to bear. All others associated with it were duped into committing the acts._

"Why is he saying all this?" Inferna asked, puzzled. "You would think one would try to cover up the fact that they were the one who started the war."

"Judging by what he says next, it's that he is trying to protect his country." Prowlus grunted, looking up from the letter. "Also: stop interrupting." Prowlus cleared his throat, and continued on, waiting only until those around him nodding in understanding.

_As of this morning I had been fully anticipating the war that would ensue, believing myself capable of withstanding the horrors to come. I was wrong. I realize now that neither I nor my people, who were ignorant of the events to come, were ready for this conflict. I had originally hoped to wait out the war for a while and force you into a truce, but I have decided to initiate it instead. I fully understand any reluctance you have in making a truce with me, which is why I offer you this: my life in exchange for a duel with Spyro and Cynder._

"What?" Cynder gasped, shocked. "Why would he want to duel us?"

"He has an infamous loathing of purple dragons." Pyron replied, glancing between the two heroes. "Though why he would want to battle you, Cynder, is something I cannot grasp."

"**What** did I say about** interrupting**?" Prowlus snarled, glaring up at the three. They all immediately shut up.

"Good, now where was I?" Prowlus muttered, returning to the letter.

_I have no qualms about giving up my own life for my people, indeed I was planning on doing that from the start. My desire is simply to face Spyro and Cynder to the death in battle and after that, should I somehow survive, I will gladly give myself up to your judgement. You need not worry about me attempting to flee, have little time left in this world as it is. Should I die in battle, then you will have taken your vengeance upon me for my crimes. Should I succeed however, then you will have me to torture and punish at your leisure; until I die at least. Of course, you have no reason to believe anything I say, or even act upon it, but I will only paw myself over to you should you accept. I will have no problem simply taking the two "heroes'" lives in their beds should you refuse. If you do accept, throw the special wax on the envelope into a bonfire tomorrow and then wait another day. There will be no attacks or attempts to expel you, during or after this time. At noon of the second day after lighting the fire, have Spyro and Cynder fly up to the palace (you are welcome to bring guards, though they cannot participate in the duel) where we can settle our score face to face._

_Ramolous._

The tent fell silent, everyone within contemplating what they had just heard, not entirely sure what to think of it.

"This sounds like a trap." Terrador rumbled finally, shaking his great green head slowly.

"You think?" Prowlus snorted, rolling his eyes derisively. "What else could it be?"

"I'm not so sure about that." Cynder replied, frowning. Everyone turned to look at her, puzzled.

"What do you mean by that, Cynder?" Pyron grunted, cocking his black horned head at the comment.

"Well," Cynder responded, clearing her throat. "while the proposition does sound suspicious, it isn't logical from a tactical point of view. When you want to set a trap for an opposing army, you generally try to get the leaders of the army, to remove the head from the snake if you will. But us? Spyro and I may be important figures, but we are not war leaders, our deaths would barely affect the tide of the war as a whole. We already have the ferans on the ropes, so it is not like our powers are necessary to turn it in our favour."

"They could be planning on removing you to ruin our moral." Cyril returned, his frown deepening. "Your loss would be a great blow to our troops moral. It could be that they are hoping that by killing you, we would lose the will to fight and return home."

"I suspect our friends' deaths would have the opposite effect, actually." Pyron said, turning his gaze to Cyril. "I imagine that the murder of the saviours of the world would actually send our troops into a frenzy. They would be more liable to storm the city and slaughter everyone as vengeance, than they would turn back and flee."

Spyro and Cynder glanced at each other, grimacing while the others nodded their agreement.

"That makes sense. It is likely they would have come to such a conclusion as well, had that been their intent." Inferna spoke up, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "So that can't be their plan. It would only backfire against them."

"Zere has to be more to zis zan zat zough." Albiard muttered, stroking his tiny beard. "Zis letter simply makes no sense if we were to take eet at face value."

"Naturally." Spyro responded, nodding slowly. "This is still too... suspicious to take seriously, but I cannot think of any advantage he could gain from setting up a trap to kill us. It may well be that he just wants to face us in a battle, if what you said about his hatred to me is correct."

"I agree with Spyro." Cynder retorted, putting a paw on her mate's shoulder. "I also think that this is too good an opportunity to pass up. Ramolous has confessed his guilt and is offering to give himself up to our justice, whether we defeat him or not. He may be a skilled fighter, but against both of us I'm fairly confident we can take him."

"Yeah and if we do defeat him, we could simply take him prisoner so he can face justice the proper way." Spyro agreed, nodding. He glanced over at Cynder and smiled.

"That is a possibility, but there is one other thing I would like to suggest first." Cyrine chirped from where he was perched in the corner of the tent. "Why bother going to fight him when we have his confession on paper? We even have his seal in the form of that wax he mentioned. If we showed it to the ferans, they would have a hard time disproving the claim. We could simply have them arrest Ramolous for us. That way, we can settle this dispute legally, with no extra hassles."

"Indeed." Terrador rumbled, nodding his head. "And if we do take up his offer, we would have to throw away that seal of his, losing half of the proof."

"Something tells me that we aint gonna get close enough to give 'em that information if we don't light the pyre tomorrow." Diatrax huffed, the greying, one eyed wolf shaking his head. "He ain't gonna be stupid enough to give us this proof, knowing we could turn 'im in like that. Sumpthin's up."

"True... true." Cyril agreed, nodding, his rage having calmed. "It could be even something as small as changing up his writing style, so it looks like we forged the document. His officials would be smart enough to recognize such a thing and then we would be the suspicious ones."

"Alright, I propose a plan of action." Pyron said, rising from where he sat, shaking out his enormous red body. "We will do both. We will shave as much of the wax off the seal as possible, without damaging it so that we can make the fire tinted green. Then, on the day of the duel, Spyro and Cynder will go up to face Ramolous, taking our elite guard, led by Terrador up. Terrador, you will have in your possession the letter and the seal, which you will show to the feran court after the duel begins. If it does appear forged, then it would not matter as Spyro and Cynder are already engaged in the duel and will take him down that way. If it is convincing enough then we may be able to stop the battle midway through, before any real damage could be done. And, should it turn out to be a trap, then you will have the best at your disposal, and you would be inside the palace grounds; you would be a perfect strike team to end this war once and for all. Are you all onboard for this plan?"

Pyron looked around, and nodded in satisfaction when each of them nodded in turn. "Excellent. Spyro, Cynder, Terrador, you may take your leave to rest and prepare for what is to come. We will remain here for now and organize our troops to respond to any possible attacks while you are up..."

"My Lords?" A voice murmured from outside the tents. "There's someone here to see the Guardians."

"Let them in." Pyron replied briskly, huffing at the interruption. They all waited for a moment, watching to see who would come through. A few seconds later, a cheetah entered, his spear slung over his back. He nodded to the Guardians, and bowed to the five kings. "Your majesties, your excellencies." The soldier murmured, rising.

"What is it you want?" Terrador asked, sighing impatiently.

"Sir, my squad and I found the Albino you were looking for." The cheetah responded, saluting.

The Guardians stiffened and glanced at each other, fearful relief entering their expressions. Inferna bolted to her paws, expression desperate.

"Is... is he alive? Where is he? You're absolutely sure it is him?"

"Yes, m'lady," The cheetah replied, bowing. "he was. We brought him down to the clinic when we found him, Lady Aquina confirmed his identity for us... he was in pretty bad shape though."

Inferna let out her pent up breath in a rush, relief softening her pensive expression for the first time since the battle at Delberie. She glanced over pleadingly at her peers, paws twitching with the need to get up and go.

"Go on, Inferna." Spyro said, patting her on the shoulder. "Cyril can hold your spot while you go check up on your student."

Cyril opened his muzzle to object, but before he could speak Inferna bolted out the tent, only pausing to rip off the pouch of coins hanging from her neck and toss it to the cheetah. The cheetah gasped at how heavy it was and saluted after Inferna, grinning broadly. Cyril sighed, defeated.

Spyro, Cynder and Terrador glanced over at the kings, smiling in relieved amusement.

"Well, we will be off then," Spyro said, rising to his paws and stretching. "we have a lot to prepare for. We will drop by tomorrow to help with the bonfire."

"Excellent. We shall see you then." Pyron grunted, sitting back down himself. He folded up the letter and slipped it and the seal into a small box for safe storage. "With any luck everything will go according to plan, and this war will be over in three days."

"Knowing our luck," Prowlus muttered under his breath as every one went their separate ways. "that doesn't seem very likely..."

* * *

"So you failed." Jaxar said, staring into Travix's face blankly.

Travix swallowed and averted his eyes, glancing about the cramped room. His eyes searched the racks of equipment and hundreds of bottles as he desperately tried to think of some kind of excuse. Travix shivered from the intense cold radiating off of Jaxar, a quiver of terror crawling up his spine.

Jaxar let out a long, weary sigh, his hand rising up to cover his face. He turned away and walked slowly over to a work table on the other side of his back up lab, remaining coldly silent the entire time. Travix relaxed, relieved and took a step to follow his master.

"Don't. Move." Jaxar murmured, his voice low, yet bitterly sharp. Travix froze in mid-step, fear suddenly prickling up his scales, leaving him feeling numb. Jaxar came to a halt at the work table and leaned over it, his head lowered. He spoke, his voice as cool and bitting as before.

"Travix, can you remind me again why I made you my apprentice?" Jaxar whispered, rubbing his temple with a hand. "It seems to be slipping my mind at the moment."

Travix gulped. "Well... er... it was becaushe you found me in trouble, and I promisehd to sherve you if you got me out of it..."

"Ah yes, now I remember!" Jaxar cried, turning to face Travix with a humourless grin. "It was way back when you were sixteen, wasn't it? You were being burned at the stake down in that backwater village you called a home. It was just after you had fed the first time! I took pity on you, didn't I? So I wiped that little splotch off the map and took you in! Wasn't that sweet of me?"

Travix nodded enthusiastically. "Yesh, yesh it wash! And I'm forever in your debt!"

"Indeed you are." Jaxar said, his voice cool and dispassionate, despite the smile on his face. "And you are one of my best! Indeed, you remind me a lot of my previous apprentice."

"I... I do?" Travix said, suddenly on the alert.

"Oh yes you do." Jaxar said, nodding. "She was a talented and ambitious electricity dragoness, with lots to prove and enough ability to prove it. Unfortunately, she happened to get into a bit of an... accident with some local authorities and accidentally led them straight to me."

Travix was deathly silent, his pale green eyes wide as saucers.

"Now, what I remember most of her was one particular theory of hers." Jaxar continued on, stalking closer to Travix, each step slow and deliberate. "She theorized that Dragon Crystals were formed from the gradual buildup of life energy from dragons both living and dead, which collected in areas that were magically inert. She thought that it might be possible to extract this life energy from dying dragons, to produce potent Dragon Crystals that could function as all kinds at once."

"Did... did it work?" Travix asked, morbid curiosity filling him with equal parts dread and interest.

"Somewhat." Jaxar said softly, stopping in front of Travix and looking him in the eye. "She produced a fairly powerful spirit crystal, but it took days to form and her screams got rather... grating after the first day."

Travix's entire body went cold, his jaw falling slack as Jaxar stepped past him. The sorcerer placed a hand on the blood dragon's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. His voice was soft and cool, as if tinted with frost.

"Thank you for reminding me, Travix. My mind is at ease once more."

Travix shivered, not sure if he should be relieved, or terrified. The blood dragon turned about to watch Jaxar as his master moved about the lab, gathering materials together and placing them in the middle of the room.

"W... what are you doing?" Travix asked anxiously, the story Jaxar had just told still fresh in his mind.

"I'm preparing to reclaim the asset you so foolishly lost." Jaxar replied, his amused smile once again playing over his face. "And with only two days remaining, I'm going to need to work fast."

"You... not... not me?" Travix whispered, a cold vice clenching his heart.

"Oh, worry not my... apprentice, you will have your part to play." Jaxar replied, picking up a box of chalk, and rummaging through it, until he found a stick of lime green. He carefully examined it, comparing it to the other colours of green to make sure it was the proper colour, and then set to work drawing up a circle.

Travix sighed with relief. "Well... what will I be doing?"

"Hush! I need to concentrate!" Jaxar hissed, his red-orange eyes flashing as he worked. "This is a very delicate procedure and even a single flaw can be disastrous."

Jaxar finished the circle, and started drawing precise runes all along the interior and exterior of the circle. He carefully examined his work, making sure that every sigil and symbol was exactly as it should be. Then he set down the chalk, and picked up a mortar and pestles. He threw in some dry rose petals which he ground into a fine powder. Once the powder was finished, Jaxar rose and started shifting through the stack of incense he had beside him, sniffing them and examining their colours.

"Travix." Jaxar barked, glancing up momentarily to look at his apprentice. "Go heat some water and cook pork stew. No vegetables, no potatoes, no nothing. Just pork, flour and water."

Travix jumped to attention, and raced off to do as he was told, moving over to the fireplace and lighting it with a quick spell. Travix threw the stew together and turned back to face Jaxar, who was placing the incense in key points around the interior of the circle, snipping some of their tops off so that they were of exactly the same size. The blood dragon watched as Jaxar measured each one with a length of string, nodded and got to setting up another ring of incense, this one of a light blue in colour, to contrast with the peach of the first set.

It took an hour before Travix determined the stew was thick enough, and presented it to Jaxar. Jaxar took a spoon, dipped it in and tasted it. He shook his head, and gestured for Travix to set it back onto the fireplace. Another half an hour passed before the stew could pass Jaxar's inspection. Jaxar picked up the powdered rose petals he had ground and sprinkled in a pinch of it into the stew. He raised the spoon to his mouth once more, tasted it and shook his head. Jaxar threw in another pinch, paused and then added a third. He then picked up a lump of salt, ground some of it into the stew. Then, he handed the pot back to Travix.

"Let that simmer for another ten minutes." He ordered, sitting back down at the circle. "Then we can start the ritual."

Travix nodded dubiously, and placed the pot back on the fireplace. Jaxar turned away, moving over to his lab to shift through some bottles on a rack. There, Jaxar produced three small jars of fluids. Jaxar paused and picked up a metal bowl, which he dumped the rose petal powder into.

Working slowly Jaxar poured one of the bottles into the bowl, covering his mouth with a cloth as they sizzled. Once the bubbling ceased, Jaxar drained out the now vibrant red fluid to leave behind the bleached white powder. With that done, Jaxar poured in the rest of the fluids into the bowl and stirred them all up with a crystal rod.

Behind him, Travix coughed. "It'sh done, mashter."

"Good, place it in the center of the circle." Jaxar muttered, bottling his new potion in a clear crystal bottle. He shook it up some, checking to see if it was clear all the way through. He nodded in satisfaction. He placed the bottle down and moved over to the circle.

The half-breed sorcerer sat down cross-legged in front of the circle, inhaling deeply. Travix stepped forward, hoping to get a closer look at what was happening, but backed down when Jaxar gave him a withering glare. The sorcerer exhaled slowly, raising a finger up into the air, conjuring a small spark of flame on its tip. Murmuring a slow incantation, Jaxar lit the candles one by one, his voice growing from a hum to an order as he finished.

Once the candles were lit, Jaxar waved his hands over the circle and stewpot, grating out his incantation and billowing the smoke away from the circle. The chalk runes abruptly flashed, and the smoke, which drifted lazily about the circle, suddenly coalesce into a thick fog as it was drawn into the circle. The smoke writhed inside the circle, struggling vainly against invisible walls that now surrounded the circle.

Travix watched as Jaxar's chanting grew louder and louder, bouncing off of the laboratory walls to reverberate and twist together into obscene phrases. The blood dragon gulped, watching the smoke wide eyed as it twisted and turned, the flames of the incense sputtering and flickering in a nonexistent wind. Faces seemed to emerge in the smoke, twisted into expressions of horror and agony beyond anything a mortal could comprehend. Then, the smoke seemed to expand, pressing against the invisible walls of the circle, only to collapse on itself, whirling into a pinpoint of light, a tiny hole that had appeared in the fabric of reality. It warped and expanded, growing disproportionately, one side stretching, only for the other to fill out a second later slightly too large.

Jaxar rose, dusting off his robe as he stood back, away from the circle to watch as the tear opened wider and wider. The air in the circle filled with an odd greenish gas, pouring through the portal into this world. Strange, alien sights flashed passed the portal. Odd clockwork devices and structures forged from a strange cloud-like substance filled the world beyond, with streets of sand and shadow winding around between them. Then, the portal was filled with a massive figure, who blotted out the orange sunlight in the distant. It stepped through the gap, its four scaled arms grasping the edges of the tear, to force it open wider so that it could properly fit through. Its hawk talons gleamed darkly in the light of the candles as it pulled its feathered body through, its six over-large wings dragging along behind it. The beast peered about with its five beady black eyes, flinching as the darkness pierced its vision. It blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the lack of light. As it did so, it sniffed and paused, noticing the pot of stew. It licked its beak and bent down to reach for the stew when it stopped, seeing Jaxar. It blanched, and hurriedly withdrew its hand.

"Uioliqwa Jaxar!" It hissed, the beasts' eyes flashing at the sight of the sorcerer. "C'callialwil ttyguo n'nb vvs."

Jaxar laughed, and answered the bird creatures response in its own language, matching the musical tones of the tongue perfectly.

"Llipny, wytrf calqcnm Mnveris. Kipolqui hiipry vbrcll?"

"Fine, though I find your tongue vulgar and harsh to speak." The bird creature huffed, clearing it's throat as it shook out its mane of feathers.

"Excellent Mnveris!" Jaxar replied, clapping his hands together delightedly. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but I have a rather limited vocabulary in your tongue, which might cause some problems."

"I assume you have not called me here for a... friendly visit?" Mnveris responded tartly, its five eyes blinking erratically. "You never had a sense of camaraderie among my kind... or others outside your world for that matter."

"Unfortunately yes," Jaxar sighed, placing the back of his hand against his forehead dramatically. "I never did possess enough patience to learn all the customs of daemons such as yourself."

"You had enough to learn our languages, and which offerings to serve." The bird snorted, rolling three of its eyes.

Jaxar laughed. "I suppose that is true, isn't it?"

"Enough of this, you interrupted me during Heulvist and it is leaving me in a rather foul mood. Tell me what you want so we can be done with it." Mnveris sighed, kneeling and digging his claws into the stew, bringing it up to stuff down its beak. Jaxar watched him with faint amusement for a second, before coughing and getting down to business.

"I'm afraid I called you here to give me back the ring I lent you some years back. I have need of it again."

"**Lent**?" Mnveris crowed, throwing its stew smeared face back in laughter. "You do not 'lend' to a Ccawlalli, you only trade. As you know, there is no word for 'lend' in our language, only in yours."

Jaxar shrugged. "Well as it happens, what you traded me was of... less value than it should have been. It broke the very moment I tried to use it. It was of poor quality."

"That harvester was the only one I had in stock and you failed to determine its faulty nature before the finished transaction. The fault lies squarely in your court." Mnveris cackled, snickering maliciously.

"But you would not even let me examine it before the trade was agreed upon." Jaxar replied, condescendingly. "You are a poor salesmen and I have come to recollect what is owed me."

"And how do you intend to get it back?" Mnveris whispered, a forked tongue darting out from its beak, its five eyes narrowing. "You cannot break the seal without releasing me and even if you did, you would burn in the atmosphere. You may control whether or not we can leave the circle, but it is we inside who are the only ones who can initiate a trade."

"I will get it back through a trade." Jaxar replied, smiling broadly. "As is custom."

Mnveris stared at Jaxar blankly for a moment, and then burst into raucous laughter.

"You... you're going to reclaim what is owed to you by... by trading for it! That's... that's absurd!"

Jaxar continued to smile, not phased in the least by the beast's response.

"I hear all sorts of stories about you, Jaxar!" Mnveris cackled, shaking his head. "Everyone always said to avoid dealing with you at all costs, but now I realize what Bfrpid tales those are! You're just a chump like the rest of th..." A sudden bout of coughs racked the bird, who frowned in puzzlement.

"Now then, if you're done, let's get onto the trade." Jaxar said, turning away to walk towards the counter. He picked up the elixir he had brewed not long before. Mnveris hacked some more, watching him with growing anxiety as Jaxar turned back to him, whistling a jaunty tune as he juggled the bottle in one hand. Mnveris snorted, clutching at his chest with one claw, and pulled away the other which he had been using to cover up his beak. He froze. His claws were slick with blue blood. His eyes widened in horror.

"W... what did you put in the offering!" Mnveris choked, realization hitting him like a bolt of lightning.

"Oh, just some rose petals." Jaxar replied sweetly.

Mnveris's beak dropped open in utter horror, his five eyes bugging out of his skull.

"You... you monster!" He cried, clutching at his throat as Mnveris began coughing up a lung. "How... how dare you be... betray a sacred... sacred tradition like that!"

Jaxar merely laughed off his accusation, waving a hand dismissively. "So, are you willing to listen to what I have to offer?"

From off to the side, Travix watched the exchange with nervous interest, amused and shocked at how Jaxar had pulled a fast one on the creature using such a simple, malicious trick.

_"I can't imagine doing such a thing."_ Travix thought, swallowing hard. _"Dealing with lesser outsiders is frightening enough, but he's bullying around greater daemons! This is insane!"_

"Yiriclb nhmrbi eeryal!" Mnveris spat, lunging forward to claw at the barrier, which held easily against his onslaught.

Jaxar sighed and shook a finger at Mnveris, tutting disappointedly. "Now now, there's no need to be so foul. I've only set up some insurance, something I'm sure you can comprehend my trader friend. I'm offering you the antidote to your affliction. De-essenced rose petals, sulfuric acid, wolf's bane and strawberry extract are all here."

"How can I trust that's the antidote?" Mnveris spat, coughing up a spurt of blue blood. "How can I trust you will not simply give me a bottle of water instead?"

"You don't have much of a choice, now do you?" Jaxar answered, sitting down in front of the circle. "After all, you're stuck in there until I let you out. It's quite secure too, so you won't be able to escape before the rose petals settle in, after which you will be too weak to pose any sort of threat to me."

Mnveris glared at Jaxar, loathing boiling in his gaze. "You are as wicked and twisted as the tales tell, Jaxar. You have no respect for anything sacred."

Jaxar shrugged, chuckling in response. "Wow, I must be truly rotten to the core, if I am looked down on by a dirty dealing, two faced double crossing bird daemon! I offer you the chance once more. If you don't take it, then I will simply wait for you to die and see if you brought the ring with you. I have little doubt you would have, since its powers are far to valuable to leave behind on an excursion like this. Of course, if you don't have it then I can simply procure one through another means. I'm sure one of the others I traded a copy of the ring to would gladly trade it to me if I showed them your corpse..."

"Alright, Alright!" Mnveris hacked, doubling over as he coughed, knocking the pot of poisoned stew over. "I... I have the... the ring with me!" I'll do the trade! Just... just give me the antidote and let me go!"

Jaxar clapped his hands together delightedly, standing up once more to dust off his robes.

"Perfect! Initiate the trade, oh mighty and powerful Mnveris."

Mnveris rose, coughing and choking and dug around in a pocket of feathery fur that had formed on his side. He pulled out a black ring, seemingly formed of carved crystal and held it out in both clawed hands. It whispered a small incantation in its language, forcing back its choking coughs. On the other side of the circle, Jaxar raised the bottle and whispered the same incantation, a wide smile creasing his face.

The circle suddenly flared to life, the once invisible wall suddenly becoming opaque and misty. The surface in front of Jaxar bulged outward, forming into a large bubble that separated from the wall. It floated over in front of Jaxar and hung suspended there, waiting. Jaxar smirked and dropped the bottle into the bubble, watching as it slipped easily through the surface of the orb, to hang suspended in its center. The sorcerer glanced up and watched as Mnveris glanced away from Jaxar, to drop the ring into the bubble hanging in front of him.

With the two bubbles filled, they floated back to the wall and seeped back into place, depositing their contents on the other side. Mnveris caught the bottle before it could fall and smash on the ground. He quickly uncorked it, draining its contents. The bird sighed in relief, its tongue flicking out to lick its beak.

"De-essenced Rose Petals... Strawberry Extract... Sulfuric acid... Wolf's Bane... It's all there. I'm shocked."

"I do keep my word, Mnveris." Jaxar replied, shrugging. "I may be a murderous, lying wretch of a sorcerer, but when I promise to do something, I do it."

Mnveris huffed, rolling his eyes. "Of course you do. Now, may I go? I want to get out of this hell hole as quickly as possible."

"You may go." Jaxar responded, waving his hand at the now clear barrier, dispelling its containing magic. Mnveris sight in relief as the portal reopened behind him, and the bird quickly retreated back into its home world, vanishing from sight. With the daemon gone, Jaxar bent down and picked up the ring. The sorcerer gazed at it fondly as he examined its non reflective black surface, the crystalline ring seeming to absorb the light from around it.

Travix stepped forward to gaze at the ring, curiosity filling his pale green eyes.

"What exactly ish that ring shupposed to do?" The blood dragon asked, frowning. "How doesh all of thish fit into getting the colourlessh back? And how do you know it'sh not a fake?"

"As I have told you, Travix, Daemons cannot trade a fake object during one of these sessions. They can only con with faulty items you if you're foolish enough to allow them to, as Mnveris did to me once." Jaxar laughed, removing a glove to slip the ring on. "As for the ring, it is to help keep Lyrith... stable so I won't need to worry about him running off. You'll understand soon enough."

Travix grunted, not convinced as he watched Jaxar put the glove back on over the ring, hiding it from view.

"If you shay sho..."

"I do." Jaxar responded tartly, turning away to clean up the circle. "Now if you don't mind, clear off. I'll call you back here when I need you. Go deal with that messenger now or something."

"Yesh... Mashter." Travix murmured, turning away and padding out from the room. The blood dragon glanced back once as he exited, sighing when he saw Jaxar had already dismissed his presence, to get to work. The blood dragon slipped out and moved into the shadows, disappearing from sight, seeking new prey to sate his growing hunger.

* * *

Inferna burst into the clinic, eyes wild as she gazed around the tent, searching the cots for the familiar white shape. Behind the red and orange Fire Guardian burst out Savron, Igneous, Tirren, Typhous and all the other members of the purple dragon's gang. The physicians glanced up from their patients as the group entered, expressions irritated at the abruptness of the intrusion. They said nothing however as the group, led by Inferna, moved through the cots towards Aquina.

The water dragoness glanced up as they approached, looking away from the patient she tended.

"I see the news has reached you." Aquina murmured, moving to clean her paws in a basin of water beside her. The cheetah she had been tending groaned as she put in the last stitch and tied it off.

"Where is he?" Inferna asked anxiously, glancing around the tent in search of Lyrith.

"Give me a moment." Aquina responded tartly, laying the cheetah back and replacing the cloth over his head with a new, cooler one. The group fidgeted anxiously as she took up a bowl of ointment and smeared it over the newly stitched cut, to keep it from getting infected. With that done she turned back to them, washing her paws off once again. "Alright, follow me."

The group sighed in relief as Aquina brushed past them, heading to a separate wing of the clinic. Voltlyn trailed along behind the group, fear started to bubble up in her gut. When Inferna had stopped by to inform them of the news, she had been unbearably relieved with the knowledge that he was found. Now however, that relief was replaced by a heart numbing fear of seeing him again.

_"I... I hope he's alright..."_ Voltlyn thought, gulping as she an the others padded through the entrance to the wing of the clinic. _"He... he wouldn't have gone to the clinic without a reason... and after being in... in their paws for so long, who knows what has happened to him?"_

Aquina came to a halt by a cot and turned to face them to watch their reactions. The group stepped up to the cot and peeked past Aquina anxiously. They all gasped in horror. Lyrith lay stiff as a board on the cot, his limbs twisted up over his body and his expression one of paralyzed horror.

"Oh... oh ancestors..." Inferna whispered, a paw rising to her muzzle at the sight. The others stared at the white dragon in shock as well, expressions tense and filled with revulsion at his twisted body. Savron took a step back, shaking his head slowly as he saw what he had done to his friend. Tears glistened in his eyes as guilt tore at him, the knowledge that this was his fault too much for him to bear. He started to turn, but stopped, swallowing hard and forcing himself to turn back, to face what he had done.

Voltlyn whimpered as she stood by the bed, her paws clamped firmly over her muzzle as she forced back her tears, mortified at what had been done to the white dragon.

"W... what happened to him?" The topaz dragoness murmured, swallowing hard to get down the lump in her throat.

"It appears he was afflicted by Coffinstalker venom." Aquina replied, turning to look down at Lyrith once more.

"C... coffinstalker!" Typhous stammered, his eyes widening.

"What does that mean?" Inferna asked, looking to Aquina desperately.

Aquina noticed the fear entering their voices and huffed. "Coffinstalkers are a fairly common species of tarantula in the underground portion of the Feran Jungles. Their name was given to them by how their venom paralyzes their victims, leaving them in a similar state to rigor mortis. The name was also given due to the shape of their bodies, which is similar to the shape of a coffin. The name is admittedly a little inappropriate however, as the venom itself is far from lethal. He would need to receive ten times the dose he has been subjected to before it would become dangerous."

"Oh... so he'll be alright?" Savron said, sighing in relief.

"Yes." Aquina said, nodding. "He will. He will be stiff and sore from the bites, but will otherwise be unharmed."

"Is he aware of what we're saying?" Igneous asked, leaning over to stare into Lyrith's petrified face.

"No. He's not. The venom also has a tendency of causing delusions in victims who received more than two doses. Judging by the glaze in his eyes, he has six or seven in him right now. He is deep into his nightmares now."

"Nightmares?" Voltlyn asked, gluping.

"Nightmares." Aquina confirmed, putting a paw on Lyrith's forehead. "Drug induced hallucinations often have a tendency of inflicting negative visions on the one subjected to them. Coffinstalker venom drags up the worst memories in the victim as a result."

"How long will he be like this?" Tirren asked, grimacing.

"I've already introduced the antidote to him, to help speed up the process. Unfortunately the antidote is only a muscle relaxant, so while he will be physically sound within three hours he will still remain delusional for some time longer."

"I see." Inferna sighed sadly. "Well... at least he's going to be alright."

"Yeah..." Savron whispered, his eyes downcast as he nodded his agreement.

"Can we stay a while, to visit?" Voltlyn asked weakly, never taking her sorrowful eyes off of Lyrith.

Aquina nodded. "Of course. Visiting hours won't be over for some time." Aquina turned her gaze to Inferna. "That is, so long as no trouble will come because of it."

Inferna chuckled. "The others let me go for this. Besides, they have everything under control, they don't need me."

Aquina shrugged. "So be it. I shall be tending to the patients should you need anything." The navy blue dragoness turned and padded away, grabbing some extra medication as she left the tent. The group watched her leave and then returned their attention to the comatose Lyrith.

The group chatted uneasily for a bit, occasionally directing their questions to the white, even though they all knew he could not hear them. Eventually they fell silent, uncomfortable talking about such simple things in the presence of their friend. Finally, after ages of sitting in silence, there came a low groan from Lyrith. Everyone perked up and glanced down at him, wondering what was happening.

Lyrith's limbs had long since loosened and he was now resting far more comfortably on the bed. While his limbs were far more relaxed, his expression was not. His face was twisted up in an expression of fright, something none of them had ever seen before. Low moans and whimpers emanated from his muzzle as he slowly curled up on the bed, covering his ear frills with his paws and his head with his wings.

Inferna, Savorn, Voltlyn, Tirren, Typhous, Danrah and the others stared at him with saddened shock as he whimpered again, his body quivering under the covers fearfully. Voltlyn gazed at him, mortified at seeing the strong, fearless Lyrith in such a state. Voltlyn tore her gaze away and saw that the others had similar expressions. Lyrith cried out, flailing on the bed for a moment before falling still, returning to his fetal position. Voltlyn and the others flinched at the action, expressions darkening even further.

"I wonder what he's dreaming?" Tirren murmured, gazing down at Lyrith with equal parts sadness and apprehension. "It must be terrible."

Everyone nodded in agreement, swallowing as they tried to imagine what he could be seeing. Time wore on, Lyrith's moans, groans and whimpers only growing worse and worse. The white dragon thrashed on the bed, eventually drawing Aquina to the bed so she could strap him down, to ensure he would not hurt himself.

Finally, Voltlyn could not take it anymore. She turned away from the sight, tears starting to blur her eyes, only to see Vash sitting off to the side. The dream dragon sat stiffly against one of the empty cots, his gaze fixed pointedly away from Lyrith. While his posture spoke of indifference, it was too stiff to be entirely real and he appeared almost to be struggling with holding his gaze away from the white dragon. Voltlyn stared at him for a long while, examining him. Then, an idea struck, causing her heart to flutter with hope. She stood and padded slowly over to the deep blue dragon, and sat down beside him.

Vash glanced over at Voltlyn, frowning. "What are you doing?" He asked, cocking his head in puzzlement.

"Vash..." Voltlyn replied, swallowing hard as she forced down her anxiety. "Y... you're a dream dragon... right?"

"Yes." Vash replied, raising an eye-ridge.

"Can... can you go... go **into** people's dreams?" Voltlyn asked swallowing hard.

Vash gazed at her for a moment, before nodding. "Yes..."

"Then... then can you send... send someone else in as well?"

Vash stared at her, his eyes knowing. "I can, but I won't."

"Oh..." Voltlyn mumbled, her head lowering in defeat. "Can... can you at least tell me why?" She asked, glancing up at Vash once more.

"Because it's too dangerous." The cloud patterned dragon huffed, shaking his head. "Dream trances are where one enters into another's mind by connecting the souls together. That means whatever happens in the dream, happens to your real body. In a nightmare such as Lyrith's, you would be liable to be killed or worse."

Voltlyn slumped in defeat, sighing mournfully. "Alright... It's just that I really, really wanted to help him. I can't stand seeing him like this. He was so strong for me, but now..." Voltlyn sighed once more, shaking her head. "I... I just want to be strong for him..."

Vash gazed at her for a while, saying nothing as she moped beside him. Finally he sighed, shaking his head as Lyrith let out a whimpering moan.

"Fine!" He said, rising to his paws. "If you're really so insistent."

Voltlyn glanced up, a small smile breaking over her disheartened expression. "Really?"

"Yeah, but there are going to be some changes." Vash muttered, moving over to the cot. "For one thing, you are not going into his nightmares. That would be suicide and there wouldn't be much there for you to accomplish."

"Then where are you taking me?" Voltlyn asked, stepping up beside him.

"I'll send you right into his subconscious. It'll be safer there, and you'll be able to do more good."

"Voltlyn, what are you doing?" Inferna demanded, overhearing their conversation as they stopped by the bed.

"Voltlyn here browbeat me into putting her into a dreamtrance." Vash huffed, rolling his eyes.

"That... that's ridiculous!" Inferna exclaimed, stepping between the pair and Lyrith. "I won't allow it. It is far too dangerous."

"Which is exactly what I told her." Vash sighed, rolling his eyes.

Voltlyn swallowed hard at Inferna's stoney expression, but stood strong. "I... I'm going." She whispered, staring up into Inferna's eyes, meeting them with only the slightest of wavers. "He... he helped me when I needed it so... so I want to return the favour."

Inferna was taken aback by the topaz dragoness's words, startled by the assurance in them.

Voltlyn let out a small sigh, closing her eyes for a moment before meeting Inferna's again. "Please. Let me help him. Let me at least try."

Inferna glanced around at the others, who stared at Voltlyn with small smiles and proud expressions. Then, the Fire Guardian sighed, shaking her head, realizing she was the minority on this.

"Alright. Just be careful. Vash, make sure there's an easy way to..."

"I'm already on it." Vash replied, picking up a pink ribbon and tying it around Voltlyn's neck. Voltlyn stiffened at his touch, but let him do so. "This ribbon," Vash said as he finished tying the not. "Is your link back to the real world. Breaking it is the signal to me to pull you back out. Use it when you're done, or are in trouble."

Voltlyn nodded her understanding and stepped past Inferna up beside the cot. Vash followed her. The dream drake placed a paw on Lyrith's forehead and then the other on Voltlyn's, holding them both still.

"Alright," Vash grunted, shaking out the spiny tendrils that fell across his face. "remember that even though you are in the world of the subconscious, everything will be taking a physical form around you, that is the nature of the dream trance. The key word here is **physical**. Everything there can affect you as if it was the real world counterpart. Be on your guard. Should you find yourself in danger, cut the ribbon immediately and I will pull you out. I will not be responsible for you getting hurt."

Voltlyn nodded, swallowing hard and shutting her eyes as she waited for Vash to begin the trance. The others all stood back to watch as Vash started to glow, activating his dream fury as he started the connection up between them.

_"Now then, **sleep** and we shall begin."_

**Characters created by Dardarax:**

Savron's Gang: (Savron, Lyrith, Tirren, Voltlyn, Vash, Typhous, Sleet)

Ramolous, Jaxar, Travix.

Inferna, Albiard, Cyrine, Diatrax, Pyron.

So yeah, this one took a while. xD It was originally going to be much, much longer than this having clocked out at about 22000 words when I had finished it. However, I was convinced that I should instead simply split it in half so that I could post this half, and still work on the other half to get it absolutely perfect. Also, splitting it in half will make it so that you don't have to read a stupidly long chapter all in one sitting, and will let you focus on what happened, instead of being overwhelmed by all that went on. xP Over all simply a better choice than over whelming you with too much writing.

Like I said, though, technically that means the other half is done, so it won't be that long in coming. I just need a week or so to edit it all out.

Also, all those comments from me about how important chapter 29 was? Those now apply to chapter 30. xD All the important stuff is in the second half of the chapter. I apologize for all of you patiently waiting for it, but it will be coming soon. =)

That's all for now. xD Thanks for reading. ^^


	30. Lost

Chapter 30: Lost

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer:__ I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro Franchise. Weary the Mango, it 2 am fork. Several of **my** characters are 'hidden' in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom. ^.^_

Voltlyn flinched, shivering as a cold breeze blustered past her. The Topaz dragoness hesitantly opened her eyes, whimpering as the air bit at her scales. In the distance, a colossal, bleak fortress rose up into the sky, its towering walls scraping the clouds high above. Countless siege weapons lined the battlements, the great wooden structures cocked and ready to fire. A thick fog shrouded the blasted ground Voltlyn stood upon, massive craters pockmarking the ground around her. The topaz dragoness's breath came out in bursts of steam, and Voltlyn shivered as the biting cold clawed at her scales. The desolate landscape sent a chill up her spine, far more intense than the cold surrounding her.

Swallowing hard, Voltlyn stepped forward towards the might fortress, her pawsteps soft and hesitant. The topaz dragoness quivered as she drew closer to the walls, her eyes drawn to the frightening effigies attached to the walls. Statues of Lyrith were mounted on the ridges of the walls, overlooking the battle field with grim expressions. Their faces were screwed up in horrifying expressions and Voltlyn couldn't help but stare at each statue, each vestige seemingly more terrifying than the last.

Voltlyn squeaked in shock as he paw sank into frigid cold water. Voltlyn jumped back, tearing her eyes away from the walls of the fortress, to gaze down at the moat of water she had just stepped into. The moat stretched for nearly half a kilometer, right up to the walls of the fortress. Massive, glacial chunks of ice drifted sluggishly along with the slowcurrent, seeming almost to form a barrier of itself around the walls. Voltlyn shivered and glanced down at her paw, starting when she found that frost had formed over it. Whimpering, Voltlyn held her paw to her chest, letting her body warm her paw and melt the frost. Once the numbness had fled from her paw, Voltlyn stood erect and gazed up at the sky. The black clouds boiled, flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder piercing the all pervading darkness of the sky.

Voltlyn swallowed and unfurled her wings, beating them experimentally in the cold air. To her shock, her wings caught nothing. Voltlyn panicked and flapped her wings wildly, but to her horror felt no resistance against her wing membranes. She gulped, Voltlyn forcing down her utter terror at finding herself unable to fly. The topaz folded her wings and looked around, trying to force herself to think of something other than her predicament. Voltlyn glanced once more to the ice floats in the water and found her eyes drawn along a path formed by the ice. Each chunk of ice formed a frozen stepping stone across to the forlorn keep.

"Well I... I guess I don't have any other choice." Voltlyn murmured reluctantly, taking a deep breath and letting it slowly, steadying herself. Hesitantly, Voltlyn took a step onto the nearest block of ice, shivering as she felt the ice stick to her paw pads.. She jumped onto it, claws digging into the ice as it rocked crazily back and forth. She waited until it steadied and then let go of the ice, jumping to the next block of ice. Voltlyn leapt from block to block, doing her best not to slip and fall into the frigid water, her claws scraping against the ice with bone chilling screeches.

Voltlyn was halfway across the moat when her paw slipped on a slick patch of the ice. Voltlyn yelped as her hind paw slipped into the water and jerked it back, shaking her leg furiously to regain the feeling in her limb. The motion sent the ice block spinning crazily off course. Voltlyn clung desperately to the block of ice, teetering back and forth as the world spun around her. Finally, after several heart pounding minutes of clinging desperately to the ice, claws sunk all the way into the frozen cube, the spinning came to a halt.

Voltlyn cracked open one of her eyes and blinked, staring uncomprehendingly at the massive hole that had been blown into the towering wall before her. A blanket of undulating mist poured into the hole of the fortress, coming out of the water in pulsing waves. Voltlyn shook her head, realizing she was considerably closer to the wall than she had been before and jumped over to the next ice block.

Voltlyn reached the wall and jumped onto the thin sliver of land between the wall and the icy water. Careful to avoid splashing her paw into the swirling moat, Voltlyn trod her way over to the gaping hole in the wall. As she drew nearer, Voltlyn found her vision drawn to the swirling mist pouring into the castle, seeking out strange shapes in the flowing fog. She frowned as she drew nearer, the shapes becoming more and more pronounced.

Voltlyn came to a halt, her expression turning into one of horror. There were shapes in the mist; or rather, the mist wasn't mist at all, but a flood of transparent dragons. Voltlyn edged closer and reached out to touch the hide of one of the misty shapes. She flinched back when her paw passed right through the shade, the young dragoness taking several startled steps back.

Gathering herself, Voltlyn stepped into the flow of mist, and waded through it into the fortress. Each step Voltlyn took was a struggle, as the shades flowed about her like water, threatening to carry her away. Voltlyn gritted her fangs as she moved, holding strong against the tide, moving through the hole and into the palace. She broke free from the river of ghosts once she was inside, and glanced around at the interior of the fortress. Her heart sank.

No life bloomed within the castle walls. Everything was stark and barren, with not a bright colour in sight. The ground was all grey stone and packed dirt, matching the walls in their desolate appearance. Grand pillars that once stood magnificently in the central courtyard were broken and in disarray, the dome they had supported crumbled to dust on the cracked earth. The castle itself was square and bleak, made up only of grey stone with no decorations or embellishments to bring life to the structure.

At the very center of the courtyard the misty dragons swarmed about en-mass, circling the massive white marble statue that lay broken amidst the lifeless grey fortress. Voltlyn stepped forward, towards the seething crowd of mist, the faint sound of laughter reaching her ears.

_"Once,"_ Voltlyn mused as she neared the crowd, the laughter growing louder by the moment. _"that statue must have been beautiful. Who was it? What happened to it?"_

A small mewling sound drew Voltlyn from her revery and she blinked, gazing around. The whimper sounded again, from within the mass of shades. Voltlyn stepped into the crowd. Immediately her ears were assaulted by the laughter, so loud that she cried out, clutching at her head in pain. All around her, the figures laughed, cawing guffaws that rent at Voltlyn's ears, causing her to clamp her paws firmly over her ears. Eyes tearing, Voltlyn forced herself up, gritting her teeth as she pushed back the raucous, ear splitting laughter and continued on, following the sound of the whimpering.

Pushing and shoving, Voltlyn made her way through the crowd of ghosts, anger growing in her chest as the laughter tore at her ears. She grimaced as she felt a trickle of hot, wet blood run down from her ear frill, but bore on, trying her best to ignore the pain. As she pushed on, the faces of the misty drakes grew more and more pronounced. Where at first they had been blank slates, they started to take on familiar aspects. The whimpering grew louder, somehow not drowned out by the laughter that poured from the dragons' muzzles. Voltlyn snarled and surged forward, breaking through the crowd, and into a small clearing at the center of the mob.

Voltlyn glanced around, ignoring the laughter as she sought the source of the crying. Another whimper caught her attention, and her eyes flickered around the clearing, and fastened on the fallen head of the marble dragoness.

Lyrith lay curled up against the cool stone, his tiny paws clasped over his head, shivering uncontrollably. The diminutive Albino lay in a pool of blood, his normally snow white scales streaked red from the bleeding scars that covered his frame. Dark bruises blossomed under his scales, darkening his already stained scales with blotchy patches. Lyrith whimpered as the crowd of misty dragons slowly closed in, their mocking laughter bubbling wickedly around them.

Voltlyn's eyes widened in shock upon seeing him, inhaling sharply. She could not believe what she was seeing. Lyrith, one of the strongest dragons Voltlyn had ever known was rendered into such a state before her. The sight of him, bloodied and weeping struck a cord in her, resonating with her own memories. A great pity welled up in her, and she in instinctively stepped forward to comfort him.

Lyrith's head jerked up at the sound of her pawsteps and stared at her, his red eyes wide. Tracks ran through the mess of blood on his face, marking where tears had once fallen. His muzzle fell open in an expression of horror and utter terror, and he bolted to his paws. Voltlyn took a step forward to follow after him as he turned and fled through the host of ghosts, hurtling towards the gates of the mighty castle, the ghosts turning to follow.

The topaz dragoness took another step and then stopped, her expression twisting up in trepidation. The faces of the dragons had fully taken shape around her and she recognized nearly every one around her. Savron brushed past her, his grin insanely wide, cackling chuckles reverberating from his muzzle as he padded after Lyrith. Beside the shade of the purple, Igneous and Typhous moved, similar expressions marring their once kind features. Spyro and Cynder too brushed past, their jeering laughter louder than any. Voltlyn's head jerked around, face stricken as she took in everything around her. Sleet, Burnam, Thunder, Inferna, Zindy, The Guardians, Deran, Tirren, all of the teachers and dozens of the servants; Voltlyn.

The halo horned dragoness felt a shiver run down her body as her shade brushed past her, a sneer cracking her misty face. Voltlyn felt tears prick her eyes, a bright spark of pain flaring up in her chest as her shade vanished into the crowd. She sat down, stunned. The pain slowly faded to be replaced with confusion, then anger, then finally resolve. Face set, Voltlyn rose, and sprinted off through mob of wraiths, after the tiny white dragon.

_"Why?"_ Voltlyn wondered as she forced her way through the flood of shades, her ocean blue eyes fixed on the slowly shutting gates before her. _"Why is he like this? Why does he see us like this? What happened to him?"_

Voltlyn reached the castle gates just as they started to close and slipped inside, panting for breath. She glanced around the entrance hall, her breath coming out in bursts of steam, the air bitterly cold. The entrance hall was void of anything remotely resembling beauty. Everything was cold, lifeless and grey. There were no grand arches or embellished columns to add wonder to the room. No soft rugs or plush cushions to sit and enjoy whatever joys the non existent decorations might have brought. There were simply cold, uncomfortable stone slabs to sit and a hard, granite floor to walk upon.

Voltlyn swallowed hard and stepped up to the thick stone door leading deeper into the fortress, pushing it open. It swung open easily, the hinges well oiled and silent. Voltlyn peeked inside and found a similarly stark grand hall awaiting her. The only thing that even remotely resembled beauty in this room were the dozens of white marble statues of the same dragoness standing in alcoves all along the hall. However each was marred in its own way, some missing limbs, others tipped over, covered in cobwebs or laying shattered on the ground.

"Leave me alone!"

Voltlyn jumped and whirled to face Lyrith, who stood quaking in the entrance of one of the hallways to the right. Blood continued to drip from his body, splattering against the granite floor. His expression was mortified and it took everything he had not to flee from Voltlyn as she gazed at him.

What was left of Voltlyn's anger faded away upon seeing the pathetic sight of the tiny dragon cowering before her. The ache in her chest swelled as Lyrith sniffled, every inch of his body quaking in fear.

_"He's so tiny,"_ Voltlyn wondered as she took a step towards him._ "I could fit him curled up between my two paws..."_

Lyrith turned and scampered away as she stepped towards him, vanishing into the shadows of the hall. Voltlyn took a deep breath and ran after him, expression grim. The hall was horribly dark, lit only by the occasional pitiful candle which had burned down to its nub. The halls were achingly empty, with the only sound of life being Lyrith's claws tapping on the stone ahead of her. The cold grew more and more bitter as she ran on, until Voltlyn was sure ice was forming along her flanks and wings. Then, abruptly, Voltlyn rounded a corner to find herself in the bright light of a blazing torch. Voltlyn started, and then sighed with relief, padding over to the torch for warmth. To her surprise, the air only grew colder as she approached, her breath billowing out in clouds so think that they wreathed around her head like smoke. Voltlyn backed away, shivering, and glanced around for a sign of Lyrith. Her gaze fell upon a shadowed door, slightly ajar just down the hall and she headed for it, doing her best to get control of her shivering. She opened the door and stepped inside.

...

"Hold it, colourless." The broadly built red dragon grunted, holding out a paw to prevent the small, chubby white hatchling from entering the classroom. "What are you doing here?"

Lyrith stopped, slumping. He turned to look up at the glowering teacher, expression disheartened. "I... I'mw here fowr schwool... Awll hatchwings are supposed twoo go twoo schwool..."

The teacher snorted, rolling his eyes. "We've gone over this, colourless, you can't be part of our school, we already told your orphanage head that we didn't want you, so stop coming!"

The other hatchlings stopped and turned to watch the two, dropping their blocks and balls to gaze with interest at the confrontation. The classroom was small, but colourful, full of toys of every shape and size. Silly caricatures of animals played across the walls in painted fields and meadows, giving the room an air of levity. The hall leading to the room was similar in design, with the alphabet spelled out along the hall between rooms in big, colourful letters.

The teacher caught Lyrith's gaze wandering off as he ranted and snorted derisively, drawing the white's attention back on him.

"See!? This is why I don't allow lizards in our school, you have no respect for authority."

Lyrith flinched, his big red eyes wounded. "But I awm nowt a wivard... I awm a dwagon..."

The red dragon sighed, placing a paw to his head. "Alright then. Tell me, what makes a dragon a dragon?"

Lyrith frowned and cocked his head, thinking.

The teacher didn't bother waiting for the Albino to respond. "'A dragon is a four legged being with scales and wings that possesses primal elemental magic;' **magic** being the key aspect. That is the definition given to us in the great Wyrmagius Dictionary, written by the third head of the Guardians."

Lyrith stared up at the teacher, nodding, his eyes curious and wide.

"Now then, tell me: can you use magic?"

Lyrith opened his muzzle to respond, then stopped, sensing what was going on but not fully comprehending it.

The red, four horned dragon smiled. "**If** you're the dragon you claim to be, then breath magic. Any kind. A hatchling your age should be starting to develop it by now, all of your **potential** class mates have shown some measure of control. **Prove** to me you're a dragon."

Lyrith's heart fell, but he stood up straight and inhaled deeply. He felt down in his chest for something, anything that he could bring to bear, but only found an aching emptiness. He exhaled, closing his eyes, hoping something would happen. The teacher snorted in laughter. Lyrith tried again and again, tears starting to form in his eyes as the teacher and the giggling hatchlings watched his vain attempts with amusement. Finally, after Lyrith's sixth attempt, the red dragon stopped him with a swift paw movement.

"Enough. I believe my point has been proven. You're not qualified to be part of this school. If I see you here again trying to get into one of the classes, I'll have you thrown out. Physically. Now leave."

Lyrith whimpered mournfully and turned away, head drooping low to the ground as he padded away, shoulders slumped. Behind him, the smug teacher turned back into class, and closed the door.

"Alright! Let's start off today with a story!" The teacher's muffled voice echoed down the hall behind Lyrith, followed by a chorus of cheerful yelps from the hatchlings as they crowded about the red dragon. Lyrith blinked back his tears and sped up his pace, all but running from the school as he forced himself not to break into sobs.

"Aw, look at that little white crybaby!" One of the older orphans crowed as Lyrith ran out, the big ice dragon heading into the school for his classes. "You get rejected again! What makes this now, the ninth school!?" The dragon laughed, as Lyrith stumbled, choking as the tears burst forth, doing everything in his power to keep from sobbing outright. The ice dragon orphan watched the little white race away, the two earth dragons beside him laughing along with him.

Lyrith charged through the orphanage doors, eyes brimming with tears as he bolted down the halls to the back door, ignoring everyone else around him. He shot out into the playground and raced up to the big tree in the center of the yard, clambering up it to the highest branches. There he curled up in the crook of three branches and covered his head with his wings, sides heaving with small sobs as he cried himself to sleep.

...

Voltlyn staggered, expression shocked as she fell into the room, tumbling head over tail to lie on her side. The topaz dragoness stared at the dim ceiling in shock, tears beading her eyes from the vision she had just witness.

"W... was that... Lyrith's...?" Voltlyn murmured, appalled at what she had just witnessed. She had guessed Lyrith hadn't had the nicest life, but this went beyond her expectations. "How could... how could anyone be so... cruel?"

Voltlyn lay for a minute, her eyes glistening with tears as she struggled to comprehend the memory she had just seen, a growing ache swelling in her chest. Finally, she forced herself to sit up and glance around the room, blinking back tears. She found herself in a small library with tall, skeletal bookshelves lining the walls. Only a couple of the shelves were full, two of which were so densely packed it would have been a chore to remove a book from the shelf without taking the entire row down with it. The rest of the shelves were pitifully bare, all but empty of books.

Rising to her paws, Voltlyn headed towards the nearest of the full shelves, labeled 'Survival' and examined the books lining the rows. Voltlyn gazed over the books, a lump of horror filling her throat as she took in the titles. 'Five Halfway Decent Meals from Scraps.' 'How to Survive on Garden roots, Leaves and Other Plant Life.' 'Stealing From Merchants 101.' 'How to Tell if He's a Rapist, for Dummies.' Voltlyn tore her gaze away before she could read anymore, her stomach heaving. She quickly raced over to the next filled shelf and read the books on there.

'Dealing with a Crowd of Muggers.' 'Reading Movements.' 'Twenty five tips for incapacitating a foe.' 'Philosophy of the Strangle Hold.' 'One Hundred and Six Dirty Tricks to Get the Upper Claw in a Fight.'

Voltlyn whimpered, terrible emotions swelling up in her as she ran over to the next one, a picture book section and was similarly stricken by the titles. Desperately, Voltlyn turned to one of the empty bookshelves, labeled Mathematics, trying to quell the growing horror in her chest. There were only five books on the bookshelf, three of them fairly new, but painfully small. Those three being: 'Basic Algebra,' 'Fundamental Multiplication,' and 'Simple Fractions.'

The plump yellow dragoness simpered and turned away, eyes teary as she made her way over to the next one, only to find similar results. Unable to take it anymore, Voltlyn ran back to the entrance, and glanced around for a way out. Her eyes fell upon a small wooden door left half open and padded over to it, slipping inside.

...

"E... excuse me?"

The orphans glanced up from the table, and frowned down at the small, chubby white dragon sitting off to the side of the table. Lyrith swallowed and smiled awkwardly, stepping forward and pulling out several cards from a pouch around his neck.

"I... I was wondering if you'd like to come to my hatchday party. It's going to be up in the attic... there'll be food and games!"

The trio of orphans glanced at each other, eye ridges raised. Lyrith smiled wanly and put the cards down on the table. He backed away, still smiling.

"I'd really appreciate it if you came."

The red dragon sitting at the center of the table grunted and glanced over the cards, before glancing over at his friends, a grey wind and a brown earth dragon. They said nothing, neither picking up the cards, or rebuking the white. Lyrith beamed.

"I hope I see you there!"

Lyrith turned and skipped away, humming cheerfully. Lunch had just ended, and all around the room the clusters of orphans chatted among one another, idly picking over the last of their meals. Lyrith stopped once he was a good ways away from the first table, and glanced around, looking for another he could approach. His blood red gaze stopped at a table of young orphans, not much older than him. Grinning confidently, head held high, he approached.

"What do you want, whitey?" A haughty ice dragoness demanded tiredly of Lyrith as he came to a halt by their table. Lyr felt some of his air blow out at the dragoness's remark, but he remained resolute.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come to my hatchday party." Lyrith stated, forcing himself not to gulp at their cool expressions, his confidence slowly bleeding away.

"Hatchday?"

"Y... yeah. It's today and... and it'll be up in the attic. There'll be food and games..."

"Huh." A dark shadow dragon murmured from the side of the table as Lyrith laid out the cards neatly in front of them. "Interesting."

Lyrith smiled, glancing over at the dragon, and nodding, turning away.

"Didn't know lizards had hatchdays." The shadow dragon finished once Lyrith was almost out of earshot. Lyrith flinched, slumping. He glanced behind him, and saw the orphans snickering, pushing the cards around on the table, but never picking them up to look in them.

Sighing, Lyrith turned away, and trudged on to the next table. Bit by bit he made his way around the orphans, avoiding those he knew would be hostile and making his way over to ones he thought might not insult him on sight. Most remained silent as he dished out the invitations, and his hopes steadily rose as he went. The room watched him move semi-interestedly, more and more of the orphans noticing him as he went.

Finally, with the pouch of invitations empty, Lyrith trotted out of the mess hall, head held high, his confidence having returned with his mission accomplished. Lyrith made his way out into the lobby, and padded over to the secretary's desk. Lyrith came to a stop by the wood, crescent shaped table and gazed up at the wind dragoness snoozing at her post.

Lyrith waited a moment, and then coughed lightly to wake the sleeping dragoness. The slim grey dragoness snorted and looked around at the noise, nearly falling off of the cushion.

"Uh? Huh? Oh, it's you."

Lyrith nodded silently.

"I suppose you're here with the last payment?" The wind dragoness sighed, rubbing her face with her forepaws.

Lyrith nodded once more, and turned to rummage around in the small sack hanging off of his flank. He pulled out a tiny pouch, which he placed on the table, having to stand on his hind paws in order to reach it. The secretary picked up the pouch, and looked into it, nodding upon seeing the sparse few coins inside.

"Looks like enough to pay off the rest of the rent. Come with me and I'll unlock the attic."

Lyrith beamed as the wind dragoness rose, yawning, and scampered after her as she made her way over to the spiral stairs down the hall. The two ascended the stairs, Lyrith hoping from stair to stair excitedly, his tongue lolling out as he grinned jubilantly. They climbed to the second floor, and moved past the multitude of doors, towards the hatch leading into the attic. Grumbling, the female grey stopped, standing on her hind paws and reaching up to the hatch. Fumbling with the ring of keys tied around her neck, she unlocked the hatch, and pulled it down, turning to Lyrith.

"Alright, there you go. Don't make too much noise. Bed time's still at the usual time."

Lyrith nodded and clambered up the collapsable stairs, into the attic. The attic was vacant except for a few small crates scattered here and there. The room was only faintly outlined by the thin rays of light creeping in through the boarded up porthole, that looked out over the playground. Lyrith glanced around the dim room, his red eyes squinted as he looked for the boxes he had had stored. His eyes alighted upon the small heap of boxes, and he chirped with glee, rushing over to the box- and pulling it open. Inside the contents were neatly arranged. Several small lanterns which the Albino had borrowed to help illuminate the room during the party. A small pile of cushions filled up another one of the boxes, which Lyrith quickly scattered on the ground, pulling several large crates into the center of the room to function as a table.

Working quickly, Lyrith pulled out the contents of the rest of the boxes, and threw them onto the ground. Once everything was unpacked, Lyrith began arranging the room, draping a table cloth over the crates, setting up games in various corners of the room, lighting the lanterns in key points to make sure the room was completely lit.

After a long half hour of careful arranging, Lyrith sat back to survey his handiwork, breathing heavily. Nodding in satisfaction, Lyrith turned to gaze at the table and then started.

"Oh right! I hope the food's arrived! It wouldn't be a party without a food!" Moving quickly, the small, colourless dragonling raced down the small set of stairs, and bolted back down to the lobby. He stopped by the desk once more, weaving through the slow stream of orphans trickling from the mess hall.

The secretary sighed upon seeing Lyrith, and put her book down once more. "What is it now?"

"I forgot, is my package here?"

"Give me a second." The wind dragoness grunted, turning to the shelf behind her desk, to fish through it.

Lyrith waited patiently, ignoring the irate grumblings directed towards him. After a minute or so of searching, the wind dragoness turned back, and placed a large package on the table. Nodding his thanks, Lyrith grabbed the package and stuffed it into his sack, struggling for a moment to make it fit. Then, he took off back up the stairs once more.

He ground to a halt in front of the stairs, and quickly climbed up. He glanced around the room hopefully and sighed in disappointment when he saw the room was still empty. He quickly perked up, a grin once again appearing on his face as he skipped over to the table, placing the package down. Carefully Lyrith unwrapped the brown paper covering on the box and lifted the lid. He smiled.

Inside was a carefully wrapped meatloaf, along side a multitude of other varieties of meaty treats. Lyrith unpacked the box, grabbing some cheap plates from a box to place the food on. Once the table was set, Lyrith took his seat at the head seat of the table, and waited for his guests to arrive. Months of preparation and savings had gone into getting everything together for this day, and the excitement left the pudgy little white all but bouncing up and down in his seat, eagerly awaiting the first of the orphans to join him at the table.

Distantly, Lyrith could hear the sounds of the orphans gathering below, chattering. Lyrith's bubbling excitement reached a boil, the Albino hardly able to contain himself as he clenched his tiny paws in anticipation.

Outside, the sun slowly descended from its apex down towards the lush spring horizon, and with it, the white dragon's jubilant heart. The noise from down stairs faded away as the orphans raced outside to play in the playground out back, only to rush back in again as dinner was called. Lyrith slowly sank in his seat, his joyous expression fading away as he waited vainly for someone, anyone to show up.

It was only once the sun had set, that Lyrith rose from his seat, sighing shakily. He glanced down at the icy cold meatloaf, a small, sad, defeated smile touching his muzzle. He inhaled slowly, closing his eyes as his breath rattled in his throat, fighting back the burning behind his eyes. He plodded around the table, head low to the ground, eyes downcast as he stopped at one of the small crates. He opened up the top and pulled out a small, wrapped box and a parchment bag from the crate. Eyes still lowered, Lyrith made his way back to his seat and slowly sat down, placing the box beside him on the table.

Sluggishly, Lyrith opened the bag and produced eight, thin candles, which he stuck into the meatloaf. Lyrith gazed at the wax sticks with dull red eyes, occasionally blinking as the burning threatened to overcome them. He inhaled once more, long and deep, closing his eyes tight as he held the breath in him for a long moment.

In his mind's eye, the candles were lit. Tiny flickering sparks of flame graced the wicks, sputtering as they fought for life. The dragons around him chittered and laughed as they waited for Lyrith to blow out the candles, chanting their encouragement. Lyrith exhaled sharply, trying to extinguish as many of the candles as he could. He missed one. The children around whooped and hollered, clapping as Lyrith desperately tried to blow out the last one, taking two huffs before it flickered out. Lyrith blushed at their friendly, joking remarks but laughed along with them, smiling widely. He glanced up as he felt a large paw come to rest on his shoulder and gazed up at the two faceless figures above him, one male the other female. They smiled down at him proudly, the male giving Lyrith a fond shake as Lyrith beamed up at him, before returning his gaze to the mob of dragons around him as they eagerly awaited their portion of the meatloaf.

Lyrith opened his eyes. The room was cold, dark and empty, with only the light from the dying lanterns to banish the shadows. Lyrith quailed as he felt a cold vice grip his heart, and he shut his eyes once more, as the burning in his eyes surged up. No warm, comforting vision greeted him. Slowly, painfully Lyrith opened his eyes, wiping away the moisture collecting in them with a paw. Then, he sighed, turning his gaze to the small package sitting to his right. Lyrith reached out and gripped it with a paw and brought it to him. There was no tag to mark who it was from; he didn't need one anyways.

Lyrith book a slow breath and started unwrapping the gift.

"Happy hatchday to me..." Lyrith whispered as he sliced away the ribbons, tears finally beading his eyes. "Happy hatchday to m-me... happy hatchday d-dear Lyrith... Happy hatchday t-to me..."

A tear rolled down Lyrith's cheek as he finished the song, falling from the tip of his snout and dripping onto his paw as he pulled away the last of the wrapping. Lyrith shut his eyes once more, blinking rapidly to banish the tears as he opened the top of the box. He looked down, knowing what was held within. Lyrith gazed down at the contents of the box and sighed, closing the lid. The Albino set the box down once more and turned his gaze away from it, tears streaming down his face.

Lyrith listened silently to the bustle of the orphans below, chatting and laughing as they got ready for bed. Faintly the white dragonling heard the thumping knock of the secretary moving between rooms, calling for lights out. Lyrith wiped away the streaks of tears drying on his face and rose as the shouting fell silent. The secretary stamped back down the stairs, not even bothering to glance up into the attic to check on him.

Lyrith turned his gaze around the room, a bitter coldness filling his chest as he looked over the untouched games and food. His stomach growled but he ignored it, turning away to plod into a dusty, cobweb filled corner of the room. Lyr brushed away the strands of dust and lay down, curling up on the cold, hard wood floor. His red, puffy eyes slowly slid shut, letting the warm, comforting darkness envelope him in its soft embrace.

...

Voltlyn shook as her paw touched down on the cool stone, warm tears trickling down her cheeks to patter on the cold granite flagstones.

"Oh ancestors..." Voltlyn whispered, fighting back the urge to lay down and weep. "Oh ancestors... I didn't know... I didn't..."

"Why are you still here? Go away!"

Voltlyn glanced up, startled. Lyrith stood in the middle of the massive, empty ballroom, smaller than ever. Blood seeped down over his body, fresh waves of red pulsing down with each beat of his heart. Lyrith stared at Voltlyn with red, puffy eyes as she looked to him. He backed away slowly, quaking in terror.

Voltlyn's expression crumpled and she took a step towards the cowering white dragon, tears pricking her ocean blue eyes. Lyrith flinched away, bolting across to the far right side of the ballroom, dodging between the colossal pillars as he made his escape. Voltlyn paused, a sharp spike piercing her heart at his reaction. Then, she took off after him, moving quickly, but cautiously towards Lyr. The blood soaked dragonling skidded to a stop by a huge, iron shod door, and tugged at the lower knob, trying to pry it open before Voltlyn could reach him. He glanced back as the door started to give way and whimpered as Voltlyn stopped behind him, gazing down at him with sorrow. Lyrith looked around for some means of escape, but found none. With no other means of escape at his disposal, Lyr curled up into a tight ball and covered his head with a wing, shivering. He screamed.

"Help! Wrath! Help!"

Voltlyn jumped in shock, taking a step back as Lyrith yowled at the top of his lungs, not sure what to do. A loud thump sounded behind her, followed by a low rumbling growl. Voltlyn stiffened, a chill racing down her spine as she turned to face the noise. A massive, battle scarred Lyrith stood behind her, glaring down at her from on high with blazing, fire filled eyes. He towered above her, easily twice the size of Terrador and three times more terrifying. His great, serrated fangs ground together as he snarled, his notched claws tearing up the stone floor below him as he stepped towards the two, eyes gleaming. Voltlyn took a step back, eyes fixed on the monster before her, heart hammering in terror.

Behind the plump, topaz dragoness, Lyrith glanced up. Relief spread across his face as he saw the enormous version of himself stalking towards the intrude. Then he quickly scrambled to his paws. Lyr gripped the knob once more and pushed the door open, slipping inside.

Voltlyn glanced behind her as the door slammed shut, the lock clicking in place and leaving her trapped in the room with Wrath. She gulped and hesitantly opened her muzzle to speak, when a blinding flash of pain blossomed along the left half of her body, followed by a burst of stars and duckies. She hit the ground hard, rolling from the force of the strike, only to slam into a pillar, where she lay groaning. Voltlyn rose to her paws shakily, wobbling as she tried to get her bearings.

Wrath sneered, lowering his paw as he turned to face where he had struck her.

"Aw, am I a little to **forceful** for you? I thought you were **used** to a bit of **force**."

Voltlyn gasped in shock, the comment bitting horribly deep. Tears sprang to her eyes as memories of Torch flashed to the surface, dragged up by the giant's malicious remark. Wrath laughed and strode forward, swiping another paw at her. Voltlyn returned to her senses just in time to narrowly duck. the swing. She skittered back, trying to gain some space between her and the fire eyed dragon. Wrath sneered, his slim, powerful body gliding forward to close the distance between them. Voltlyn turned and bolted, panic filling her as the leg sized claws swiped over her head, just barely missing her horns.

Wrath chuckled again and sped up, moving at a quick trot to keep pace with the scampering lightning dragoness. Voltlyn tore from the room, breath tearing from her throat as she made her escape through the halls of the fortress. Fear chilled her veins as Wrath's mocking laughter echoed after her, reverberating off the walls and the broken statues of the white dragoness.

"Why are you running? You never ran away from Torch when he was pissy. Almost make me think you enjoyed his... company."

Voltlyn felt tears of hurt spring into her eyes as she faltered, nearly tripping over a fallen statue leg. The giant's paw struck her from behind, sending her flying forward and through an open door, out into the grand hall. Voltlyn rose quickly, her rapid breath coming out in billowing steam as she stumbled forward, body throbbing in pain from the cuts and bruises marring her scales. She glanced back, eyes wide with fear as the door swelled in size to allow Wrath through.

Voltlyn glanced around and saw a small door on the other side of the room. She ran for it. She was only halfway across the grand hall when Wrath jumped and slammed down in front her her, the tiles cracking under paw. He leered down at her, jagged fangs gleaming red in the torchlight. Voltlyn skidded to a halt and scampered away, making for another door. Wrath cut her off once more. Panicking, Voltlyn looked around, trying to find a way out. The castle gates were open. Voltlyn started towards them, not caring about the horde of shades gathered outside. Then she stopped, realization suddenly clicking into place.

The topaz dragoness turned, terrified expression falling away to be replaced by resolute determination. Wrath struck her again, and Voltlyn was sent flying back towards the gates. She moaned, but rose to her paws and glowered at the monster guard drake as he tossed yet another insult towards her.

"S... stop." Voltlyn commanded as he raised another paw to strike her down. Wrath paused, his brow furrowing in confusion. Voltlyn stared up into his burning red eyes, her ocean blue cool and strong, in stark contrast with her trembling limbs. Wrath snarled and lashed out once more. Voltlyn flinched, but did not budge as the paw crashed into the ground beside her, sending fragments of stone flying into the air, a few slashing into her scales.

"Stop." Voltlyn repeated, her voice commanding, standing strong despite the quaver of terror filling her voice.

Wrath gazed down at her for a moment, the fire leaving his eyes. Then, he turned away, his enormous body relaxing.

"Why aren't you running?" Wrath asked, his once booming voice now low and hoarse.

"Because that's what you want me to do." Voltlyn replied, relief filling her as Wrath calmed.

"Very insightful. He has good taste in dragonesses." Wrath grunted. the glower not leaving his face.

Voltlyn gulped, not sure what to make of the comment. "Th... thank you?"

Wrath snorted, ignoring the reply. "Regardless, you must leave now. Wether by force or by freewill you will go."

Voltlyn's expression hardened once more. "N... no."

"Go. You're not wanted here, or have you not realized that yet?"

"I have, but I want to know why. What is he... you hiding? Why are you pushing us out?"

"And why do you want to know? Haven't you already seen enough, intruder?"

"I..." Voltlyn paused, her expression turning to one of contemplation as she considered the question. Wrath watched her with hard, curious eyes, not wavering an inch.

"I... I want to know because... because he's like me. He's hurt, but he's not opening up and letting us help him. Letting himself heal..."

Wrath gazed at Voltlyn with calm, dead eyes. He was silent for a long while, before he spoke.

"I suppose calling you names and chasing you around some more wouldn't convince you to leave?"

"No."

Wrath nodded, snorting derisively. "Fine, I won't stop you."

Voltlyn perked up, a joyous expression crossing her face.. "Really?"

"Yes, really. But that doesn't mean you've won. I may be His personal guard dog, but I am still but one of his many defenses. The worst is yet to come." Wrath turned away, padding down the great hall towards one of the many doors.

"I don't..."

Wrath turned back, cutting her off, his eyes burning with chill fire as he spoke, his booming voice cold and heartless. "Know, however, that should you fail and you do more harm than good, I will not rest until I destroy you. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide, I will find you, and you will rue the day you dared come here and undid him."

Voltlyn flinched back, her eyes flying wide at the ferocity in the dragon's voice, her heart catching in her chest for a second, before sputtering back to life. By the time Voltlyn had recovered, Wrath had vanished, disappearing into the air as if he had never been there. Voltlyn looked around the grand hall, concerned, not sure what to do. After a long moment of confusion, Voltlyn sighed, and stepped forward, heading back the way she had come.

The ballroom was as cold and empty as all the other rooms in the castle, with fluffy dust thickly matting the floor like a carpet. Yet, Voltlyn noticed an odd, subtle difference to this room that the others before it had lacked. A quality of newness. The room was without a doubt old, but it seemed almost unused, despite the layer of dust. No smudges from food and drink spotted the floor beneath the dust, and it was unscrupulously tidy, with no sign that any previous mess had marred the room any point since the moment of its creation.

Frowning, Voltlyn waded through the dust, retracing her steps back to the door Lyrith had fled through. Tentatively, Voltlyn twisted the door handle and pushed the door open. To her surprise, nothing happened. Voltlyn glanced around, relieved, if a little puzzled. The room was small, barely more than a closet and was completely bare of any decorations. An arched doorway led out into a slightly larger room, where a spiral staircase led upwards, higher into the castle. Swallowing, Voltlyn stepped up to the staircase and ascended, moving slowly. The light slowly faded away as she rose, the air growing colder and colder until Voltlyn's wingtips felt numb.

After what seemed like an eternity, Voltlyn stopped at the head of the stairs, shivering uncontrollably as she reached for the door handle of the only door in sight. She flung it open, shutting her eyes tight as she prepared for the worst.

A wave of utter despair rolled over her like a tidal wave, stopping Voltlyn in her tracks. The topaz dragoness stood at the threshold of the room, eye wide in horror as the feeling passed over muzzle falling open as it pressed down on her chest like a massive weight, holding her breath trapped in her chest.

Swallowing hard, Voltlyn placed a shaking paw down, past the threshold of the room and forced herself through it. The air in the room was heavy and thick, almost suffocating Voltlyn as she entered the room. Her chest rose and fell as she all but clawed at the air for a proper breath. The room was massive, filling up the entire top floor of the tower. Hundreds of broken mirrors filled the room, shards of the glass cracked and falling from the frame, creating a maze of distorted images and fragmented forms.

Breathing heavily, Voltlyn pushed deeper into the maze, scanning the room for any sign of Lyrith. A flash of white crossed her vision, and she jumped forward, only to realize it had been a reflection on the mirror. Sighing, Voltlyn turned away, eyes shut tiredly. A sudden flash of memory tore through her, sending her reeling as if she had been slapped.

A hatchling Lyrith cowered as the other orphans of his room pushed him around, taking his pillows and blankets, and sharing them amongst each other, leaving the little white to sleep out in the cold.

Voltlyn turned away, eyes wide, only for another memory to hit her, and then another. With each mirror that came into sight, more fragmented memories would tear into her, forcing her to look away, only for another to strike her down. Tears blurred her eyes as she tried to escape, but was unable to avoid them as they sought her out. Each subsequent memory brought her lower and lower, until she was huddled on the ground, teary eyes wide as the memories poured around her.

Voltlyn choked drowned in the despair, eyes blurry as she clawed at the ground, trying to find some way of escaping the pummeling of tortured memories.

"The ribbon." Voltlyn whispered hoarsely, remembering the ribbon tied about her neck. "If... if I break that, I can escape! This... this is too much to bear, I just can't do it... I can't..."

Voltlyn glanced up as she reached for the ribbon, and her eyes fell upon Lyrith. The white drake stood in the center of the maelstrom of memories, gazing at her from where he sat under the fallen white statue of the dragoness. His red eyes were wide as he watched her, his expression knowing and resigned. Voltlyn's paw stopped as she touched the ribbon, gazing into Lyrith's depthless eyes, unable to move. Her paw dropped to the floor. Lyrith continued to stare, the relief that had entered his eyes fleeing upon seeing the action.

Sobbing, Voltlyn forced herself to rise and clawed her way, paw by paw over to Lyrith, whose expression twisted into a startled anxiety.

"Please," He whispered, his voice quivering, as he stepped back past the statue. "please go. I... I don't... I don't want you here."

Voltlyn forced herself up, fangs grinding as she pushed past the memories, and into the eye of the storm. Lyrith's eyes alighted with panic and he scampered back, never turning his gaze away from her. His rump bumped up against the wall and he stopped, realizing that this was as far in as he could retreat.

"Go away! Please!" Lyrith begged, cowering low to the ground as she approached, his entire body trembling. "I can't... I can't..."

Voltlyn stopped before him, and gazed down at the pitiful form of Lyrith before her, her eyes soft and sad.

Lyrith shook his head, whimpering. "Please..."

Swallowing hard, Voltlyn reached forward, and grabbed Lyrith, pulling the small drake close to her. Lyrith's eyes flew wide in terror as she held him close, wrapping herself around him protectively.

"NO!" Lyrith screamed, striking Voltlyn across the face with all his might. Voltlyn's head snapped back, expression stunned at the force of his blow as Lyrith proceeded to claw at her, struggling desperately to escape her warm embrace.

Voltlyn squeezed her eyes shut tight and held onto him with all her might, refusing to let him go as he clawed, bit and snarled at her, writhing against her chest.

"Noooo!"

...

"Okay, squirt, you ready to head out?" Malicina asked, turning to Lyrith, who sat eagerly beside her in the orphanage lobby. The little Albino nodded enthusiastically, his muzzle open playfully, his tiny tongue poking out the side. "Alright then, let's get moving!" Malicina chirped her autaumn eyes twinkling as she stepped out the door. The evening summer sky greeted the two as they moved out into the crowded streets, the warm, wet breeze caressing the two comfortingly. Invigorated and ready to go, the two set off, admiring the vibrant greens that surrounded them as they made their way to the bazar.

"So, Lyr, what do you intend to get?" Malicina asked, winking down at Lyrith as he trod along beside her, his red eyes huge.

"Uh... I don't know." Lyrith admitted, frowning in puzzlement. "I've never been to the fair before. What does it have?"

Malicina laughed, giving Lyrith a gentle shove with her tail, causing him to chuckle as he evaded her. "Oh there's all sorts of goodies there. Just about anything you can imagine, really."

"I can't wait!" Lyrith beamed, skipping along excitedly, shivering eagerly as they wandered down the street to the late night market. The Bazaar was packed with hundreds of people, all crammed into the city square and lined up infront dozens of stalls. People from every speicies parused the wares, chatting and laughing while their children played in the street, gazing in wonder at the preformers working at the street corners.

Lyrith stayed close to Malicina as they moved from stall to stall, skimming over the merchandise as they looked for something to purchase.

"Oh! I want that!"

Malicina turned her eyes to the fruit tart, Lyrith pointed to, which sat cooling on one of the stalls. Malicina smiled, sighing, her voice patronizing.

"No, you don't. It's no good for us dragons, we don't eat those kinds of foods."

"But it smells so yummy!" Lyrith pleaded, his red eyes wide as saucerpans as he gazed up at Malicina, lower lip trembling. "Pleeeease?"

Malicina sighed dejectedly, giving in. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

The anthropomorphic dove behind the counter gazed at the two white dragons as they approached, her gaze puzzled.

"What may I get you two fine dragons this evening?" The dove whistled, smiling. "I'm afraid I don't sell any meat pastries, only fruit, so we don't have much in stock..."

"Actually, squirt here wants that tart." Malicina sighed derearily, gesturing to the tart and giving the dove a sad, but knowing smile. "He's still in the experimental stages."

"Oh, I see." The dove said, sighing. "Alright, well I happen to have a smaller one here. I'll charge half for it, obviously, since it is about half the size. What do you say?"

"Sounds grea..." Malicina began, but Lyrith whined beside her.

"But I want the big one!"

Malicina groaned, putting a paw to her head. "Fine, how about this. If you like it, then we can get you the big one."

"Yay!" The white dragonling cheered, bouncing up and down excitedly. Malicina looked to the dove and shrugged. The dove chirped a laugh back as she pushed the tart towards the pair. Malicina placed the coins on the table and passed the tart to Lyrith.

"There you go, squirt... enjoy."

Lyrith's tongue lolled out in excitement as he took the hot tart in his paws and stuffed it into his muzzle. Malicina waited for the usual gags of disgust, but to her surprise none came. Lyrith happily scoffed the tart down, the cherry paste smearing all over his muzzle, with a gooey red squish. Lyrith licked his paws and muzzle clean and gazed up at Malicina, his eyes sparkling.

Malicina looked over at the dove, who looked equally as surprised. Malicina sighed, shrugging. "Well, a promise is a promise."

Malicina paid the dove and took the tart, passing it down to Lyrith. Lyr chomped down on it, munching cheerfully as the paste dribbled down his muzzle. Then, he looked up, belching lightly.

"Oh, right... do you want some, Malicina? It's really, really good."

"Uh..." Malicina said, grimacing as he offered her the half eaten pastry. "I think I'll just take your word for it."

Lyrith shrugged, content that he had offered it to her and then continued eating. The pair then set off deeper into the bazar. The hours passed quickly for the two as they moved from attraction to attraction, buying toys, trinkets and treats to enjoy, while watching the various shows being played around the City Square.

The moon had risin high into the sky and had gone past its peak when Malicina rose from her seat, clapping at the delierously happy ending of the play. She glanced over to Lyrith, who was smiling broadly along side her, looking up at her with childish glee. They turned and made their way through the crowd of chattering dragons, moles, cheetahs and canines, laughing together as they ate their shiskebobs.

"So, how do you like the Bazaar, Lyr?" Malicina asked, lauging as the white dragonling bounced along beside her, the now stripped stick still sticking out from his muzzle.

"It's amazing!" Lyrith exclaimed, spitting out the skiskebob, to beam widely up at Malicina. "Is it always like this?"

"Not always." Malicina chuckled, shaking her head. "Today's just a bit special."

"Why?" Lyrith asked, looking at her with interest.

"Well, today's the day that Spyro and Cynder defeated Malefor, the first time, and saved the world." Malicina replied, snorting. "Didn't you know that?"

Lyrith paused to think, frowning, and then nodded slowly. "I... I think so..."

"Well it is." Malicina said, nodding sharply. "And since it is such a special day, it should obviously be celebrated."

Lyrith nodded in understanding, his expression wizend. Malicina chuckled at his satisfied face, rolling her eyes.

"So..." Lyrith prompted, looking around. "What should we do next?"

"Well, to be honest I think we should turn in for the night." Malicina yawned, shrugging.

"Aw..."

"Sorry squirt. You've stayed up long enough, time to tucker down."

Lyrith pouted, but didn't object. Malicina grinned and sped up, leading the way out of the bazar, and down the darkend streets back to the orphanage. They were halfway down Cattailway when Malicina stopped, cocking her head to listen.

"Did you hear that?" She whispered, frowning. Lyrith frowned as well, and turned his head to where she was looking, listening hard.

"He...p m..."

"Help... me?" Lyrith murmured, looking up at Malicina, confused.

"I thought so too, squirt." Malicina whispered, nodding. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

The white dragoness set off into the dark alley, before Lyrith could object and vanished into the gloom. Lyrith stared after her, swallowing hard. He glanced around the deserted street, and felt a chill run up his spine. Lyr tore after Malicina, not caring if she yelled at him.

Lyrith bounded through the alley, doding around trashbins and over garbage, following the brief glimpses of Malicina's tail blade. Lyrith rounded a bend and came to a stop, a low chuckle coming from behind him. He turned slowly, eyes wide as he saw a large, yellow dragon easily three times his size, slip down from the roof, to land in front of him.

"W... who are..." Lyrith began, but was silence by a sharp cuff across the head. Lyrith soared into a trashbin and crashed to the ground, stunned.

"Huh, glad I following along behind." The yellow dragon grunted, grabbing Lyrith in his jaws, turning to continue after Malicina. "Can't have you running for help now can we?"

Lyrith struggled blearily as he was carried along, not sure what the mysterious dragon meant, but only recieved several more cuffs for his efforts. His vision swam from the stench of his breath, faintly recognizing the scent as alchohol as he was carried down the alley, unable to fight back. After a long minute of stalking through the shadows they turned into a dead end, where Malicina was surrounded by two equally dragons, one an icy blue, the other a deep green.

Malicina glared at the three, crouched into a defensive position, snarling.

"What do you want, freaks?" She hissed, orange eyes flashing.

"She really hasn't been in the slums long, has she?" The ice dragon chuckled, looking to the larger of the earth dragons. "Guess you were right after all. I really wonder how you know half the time."

"She walks like nobility." The large earth dragon sneered, looking up from Malicina, over to the ice dragon, the gold rings about his horns glimmering. "There's a very noticable difference in how the lowborns walk and how nobles walk. Though judging by the dirt and parasites, she isn't one any more."

"Got me there, Treque." The ice dragon chuckled, nodding, the bejewled necklace glittering in the moonlight.

"Shut up and answer me!" Malicina hissed, eyes narrowed. "Who are you and... Lyrith!" Malicna gasped, her gaze falling on Lyr, who was helf aloft by the yellow dragon. "What are you... I told you to stay behind!"

"Guess the little tyke didn't want to leave your side." The lightning drake sneered, dropping Lyrith to the ground, only to swipe him back up in a paw before he could move. "Shame it will cost him so much more because of it."

"Don't you fucking dare hurt him!" Malicina snarled. "I will rip out your intestines and feed them to you if you so much as bruise a scale!"

"Tough words, sweetcheeks." The ice drake whispered, licking his muzzle. "Considering you're trapped, out numbered and outclassed."

Malicina snarled, but was cut off by Treque, the earth dragon leader. "If you so concerned about his safety, then you had better listen up."

Lyrith blinked, gazing around, not sure what was happening. The lightning dragon squeezed him roughly around the stomach and Lyrith squeaked in pain and shock, eliciting a chuckle from the lightning dragon.

Malicina growled threateningly, but did not lash out.

"Good." Treque, smirking. "Now as I'm sure you know, this is a very special day and as such needs to be celebrated in a... special way."

Malicina's face slowly turned from anger to dread as he spoke, realization finally dawning on what they had planned.

"Now, you being a fairly attractive dragoness, and an Albino no less, are a prime candidate to secure us this 'festive' joy we seek. You don't have to be ashamed or angry about it, you should, in fact, be honoured that we have chosen you out of all the other dragonesses. Since dragons of our station could have just about any dragoness we desired, chosing you is an enormous honour."

Malicina shook her head slowly, taking a step back away from the older earth drake. The lightning dragon squeezed Lyrith again and Malicina stopped as the white cried out in pain. Lyrith snapped at the lightning dragon's paw with his fangs in retaliation, hissing. He tried to speak out, but found himself gasping for as the air was squashed out of him.

"So this is the condition of our arrangement." Treque continued on, as if nothing had happened. "You submit to us and your little friend goes free, unharmed. We will even do our best to make sure you have as much fun as possible as well during our celebration. That sounds throughly generous, does it not?"

Malicina glanced between Lyrith and the other dragons, despair creeping over her. She knew what was in store for her, and Lyrith if she did not submit. There was no way she could fight them off and save Lyrith as well. They were trapped and she knew it.

"Come now, it's not so hard a choice." Treque whispered sweetly, taking a step towards her. "All you have to do is turn your back, close your eyes and bow down; we will do the rest."

Malicina let out a low sob, her orange eyes filling with desprate tears. She glanced over to Lyrith, who gazed at her, dazed, still weakly struggling in the lightnging dragon's paw. The lightning dragon leered at her and raised a single claw, placing it against Lyrith's stomach, and pressed it against Lyrith hard, drawing blood and a pained squeak. Malicina sobbed again, and turned her back on the leaf green earth dragon leader. She shut her eyes tight and crouched down, touching her chin to the ground as she raised her rump into the air. The three dragons grinned widely, ignoring her whimpering sobs of defeat.

"An excellent choice." Treque whispered, moving up behind her, looking her over with malicious intent.

Lyrith snapped to attention, the cloud of confusion and pain leaving as Treque started to climb on top of her, causing Malicina to stiffen, eyes flying wide.

"Let her go!" Lyrith shouted, struggling harder against the lightning dragon. "Don't worry about me, Malicina! I'm fine! Don't let them win!"

"Shut up, twerp!" The lightning dragon hissed giving Lyrith another hard squeeze. Lyrith snarled and clawed the lightning dragon on the face. The lightning dragon growled and slammed Lyrith into the ground. Lyrith gasped in pain as his head colided with the cobblestones, a flash of bright light filling his vision.

"Stop!" Malicina shouted, tear filled eyes horrified as she watched Lyrith sob on the ground in pain. "Y... you said you wouldn't hurt him!"

Treque moved into position on top of her and leaned down to lick her neck. They watched as the ice dragon moved up beside the yellow drake, glaring down at Lyrith.

"We lied." Treque whispered into Malicina's ear frill, a malevolant smile cracking his face as he forced Malicina down, all but crushing her underneath him. Malicina's eyes widened and she roared, bucking and snarling under him as she watched the dragons start raining blows down on the stunned Lyrith, batting him between them as if he were a ball.

Lyrith sobbed in pain as their claws lacerated him, feeling his bones creak with each swing of their paws. The world around him slowly faded to black as he watched Malicina struggle vainly against Treque as he started moving atop her, her helpless weeping filling the night as Lyrith slipped slowly, painfully into oblivion.

Agony woke him, throbbing, piercing agony that tore through every fiber of Lyrith's being. The little white dragonling groaned, shaking from where he was curled up on the ground, horribly stiff and sore from the brutal beating he had miraculously survived. He struggled to open his red eyes, which were glued shut from the blood that dribbled down from the slashes on his head. Lyr whimpered as he finally forced his eyes open, the bright, dawning sun lancing into them painfully. He shielded his face with his one working wing, curling up into an even tighter ball, trying to escape the pain.

Slowly, bit by bit the cloud of torment lifted from Lyrith's mind and memories of what had happened returned. Hot fear filled his chest and Lyrith forced himself up, squinting around at the blurry, indistinct world, looking for Malicina. She lay in the center of the alley, back turned to Lyrith. Long, wicked cuts and vicious bruises covered her body. Lyr's heart caught in his chest and he stepped towards her, only to fall flat on his face. Lyrith gritted his milky, bloodstained fangs and slowly, paw step by paw step, dragged himself over to her, whimpering in pain.

"M... Malicina?" Lyrith murmured, pulling himself up to her, and draping himself over her side. He sighed in relief: She was warm, though not as warm as he remembered her. "Malicina? Are you okay?"

She didn't reply.

Groaning, Lyrith pulled himself back up onto his paws, and rolled her over, so she lay facing him. Lyrith grimaced. Her body was completely covered in wounds and bruises that blossomed over her body. A thick drying ooze covered her muzzle and rear end, which Lyrith ignored it out of fear that he might be sick. Lyrit placed her paws on her chest and gave her a gentle shake.

"Come on, Malicina. Time to get up." Lyrith murmured, forcing a weak smile onto his face as he gave her another shake. "We... we have to get going. You can't just sleep here all day. We need to get you to a clinic..."

Lyrith waited for Malicina to open up her Autumn orange eyes and yawn, for her to grin up at him and tell him it was time to go, but she didn't. She was still, her head lolling back, muzzle slightly agape.

Lyrith's smile faltered, but didn't fade, the white dragon forcing down the growing pain swelling in his chest.

"C... comeon! We... we have to go. If we don't, Mother will punish us for being late for chores. Come on, get up!"

Malicina was silent and unresponsive, her form limp as she lay splayed out on the ground. Lyrith felt a cold vice grip his heart and a hot burning starting to form behind his eyes, but he pushed them back, no longer able to keep the charade of a smile up. He nuzzled her face, not caring if he touched the crusty white slime that covered her face.

"Don't... don't play with me! I'm serious. It's time to get up!" Lyrith demanded, as he shook her hard, rocking her body from side to side.

"You **have** to get up! If... if you don't I'm going to... I'm going to..." Lyrith waited, shivering, gazing into her face as he waited for a reply. She did not move. Lyrith's felt hot tears run down the sides of his face and he hurriedly wiped them away before Malicina could wake and see them. Her eyes never opened.

"You... you wouldn't make me go back to the orphanage **alone**, would you?" Lyrith asked, slowly rocking back and forth on his haunches, the small, desprate smile on his face strained as he fought back the growing dread. "You... you promised..."

Finally, it was too much for the little white and he choked, the tears falling from his face to splatter on Malicina's chest. He shook as sobs tore through him, his small body quivering as he pressed himself up against Malicina's rapidly cooling body, burying his face in her chest.

"You... you promised!" Lyrith wept, holding her tightly to him, not wanting to let go. "You promised! You said you'd never leave me alone again! You said that! You... you can't break promises like that! I thought... I thought..." Lyrith broke down into further sobs, barely able to keep himself from falling to the ground. He raised his paws and struck her unfeeling chest.

"YOU PROMISED!" Lyrith roared, raising his paws to strike her again, tears flooding down his enraged face. "YOU PROMISED I'D NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN! HOW CAN YOU LEAVE ME NOW! IT ISN'T FAIR! IT ISN'T FAIR!" Lyrith crumpled onto her chest once more, sobbing hopelessly, all his rage expended out at once.

"I... I need you, Malicina." Lyrith whispered, holding her cold corpse in a tight embrace. "I need you. I... I can't go on... I can't be alone again, it hurts too much... I... I... " Lyrith choked once more, no longer able to speak. He lay against the motionless Malicina, sobbing, all his anger and sorrow boiling up inside of him, overcoming all the walls holding them back, and pouring over into him.

Hours passed before Lyrith finally rose. He turned away, his tear streaked face empty and emotionless. He slowly plodded through the alley his aching body oddly numb. He was stopped by a cheetah guard, who asked what had happened to him. Lyrith simply pointed down the alley he had emerged from and asked if the guard could go and collect Malicina's body. The guard dubiously nodded and left and Lyrith continued along his way, heading back to the orphanage.

"Hey, Lizard!" A hefty black dragon called over to Lyrith as he passed by the messhall. "You look pretty **beat**. Must have been one hell of a party, huh?"

Lyrith turned to face the shadown dragon, his gaze cold and lifeless. The black dragon continued on, not noticing Lyrith's gaze.

"And where's that white bitch you're always hanging onto? She dump you for another, considerably older drake? Wouldn't be surprised! She may be an Albino whore, but even she deserves better than a worthless rat like you."

The mess hall, which had stopped to listen rumbled with laugther. Lyrith felt his muzzle peel back over his fangs and he found himself moving towards the table the black dragon sat at, his vision turning red.

"Oh, did I make you mad? Would it make it better if I said sorry?" The black dragon mocked as Lyrith approached, rolling his eyes. He opened his muzzle to speak, but Lyr didn't give him the chance. Without warning Lyrith pounced on the black dragon and plowed him into the ground. The entire room gasped as the small dragon force the black dragon onto his back with unnatural strength, and started beating him. Lyrith's lifeless expression never changed as he pounded his paws into the black dragon's face, chest and stomach, drawing long bloodly slashes across the screaming shadow dragon's body.

The room exploded into motion as Lyrith beat the shadow dragon to a pulp, completely oblivious to the clawing and blasts of shadow the drake sent his way. The black dragon's friends came to his aid, but were unable to wrench the berzerk Lyrith away from their friend.

Black rage filled Lyrith as he shredded the drake under him, blood dripping from his paws and fangs as he tore at him mercilessly. It felt so good. There was no more pain, no more anguish, no more sorrow; there was only an all consuming anger, a blazing hate for all the dragons around him, all the dragons who had ever caused him pain. He reveled in it as he tore the black dragon limb from limb, letting the rage comfort him, sooth him, eat away all the sadness until only blissful anger was left. Then, a sheer coldness struck him from behind and he was thrown from the bloody, sobbing shadow dragon. The other orphans pounced on the fallen Lyrith and hit him. They hit him until he ceased to move, but he did not care. He was safe, safe from everything, the world, the dragons, and from the white dragoness lying cold in the alley, forgotten by all but him. He was **finally** safe...

...

Voltlyn wept, holding the small, bleeding Lyrith close to her chest, tears rolling down her face as his stuggles weakened. Around them, the mirrors faded away into the background, leaving the two alone in the middle of the room, Voltlyn sobbing weakly.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Lyrith. You... you went through so much, and... and you only wanted to forget, but... but I made you remember. I didn't know. I thought I did, but I didn't... I'm so, so sorry..."

Lyrith shuddered against her, curling up into a ball as she bawled, his red eyes closing as he rested his head against her chest.

"Please." He whispered, meekly. "Please don't hurt me."

Voltlyn was slightly taken aback by the response, and then nodded, wiping her tears away as she smiled, choking back her sobs. "Don't worry." She replied, holding the shaking Albino close. "I promise I won't ever leave you alone again."

The small, bloody Lyrith didn't reply, but simply raised a paw to the ribbon around Voltlyn's neck and cut it away, letting it slip off her neck and drift to the floor limply.

The world went dark.

...

"Are you alright, Voltlyn?" A voice sounded from the darkness, echoing distantly through the stillness of oblivion.

"Oh my, look at those cuts. Those weren't there a minute ago. What happened?"

Voltlyn moaned as she felt light stab through her eye lids and she shut her eyes even tighter, to block out the pain.

"She's coming to!"

"What happened? What did you see?"

"Give her a minute, Sav! She's clearly upset!"

Voltlyn cautiously opened her eyes, winced as the dim light tore at them, and then blinked, her ocean blue eyes watering. She looked around at the blurry, many coloured faces hovering over her. Voltlyn groaned and rose from where she lay prone on the ground, rubbing at her eyes to clear the fuzz, simultaniously wiping away the hot tears trickling down her face.

"Voltlyn?" Inferna murmured, gazing into the dragoness's face, concerned. "Are you alright?"

Voltlyn inhaled shakily, her heart heavy in her chest. She nodded slowly, not entirely sure what she felt.

The dragons around her smiled in relief at her nod and Tirren helped her to her paws. Voltlyn exhaled slowly as she stood, and glanced over to where Lyrith lay. The white dragon was still, breathing evenly, his expression relaxed, something Voltlyn had never seen before. Vash sat against the side of the cot, breathing hard, eyes shut tightly.

Voltlyn moved over to the two, and sat down beside the bed.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, glancing over at Vash, concerned.

"Yeah..." The dream dragon panted, gasping in air with frenzied gulps. "I'm... I'm fine... It's just... that doing the... dream trance is... exhausting... especially when you're... doing for another."

"How can it be that exhausing?" Sleet asked, puzzled. "You were only doing it for a minute."

Voltlyn looked over at Sleet in shock. "Only a minute? It... it felt like I was in there for hours..."

"Time... flows differently in... the land of the mind..." Vash groaned, letting himself fall back onto the ground. Danrah moved up to comfort him. "What seems like days there, can only be seconds here."

Everyone nodded their understanding, accepting his expertise on the matter. They then turned to Lyrith, who slept soundly, only occasionally twitching and groaning as the poison gripped him.

"Well, whatever you did, it seemed to have helped." Inferna said, smiling down at Voltlyn gratefully as she moved up to the bedside. Voltlyn nodded, smiling softly. She gently placed a paw on one of Lyrith's and squeezed, to let him know she was there.

"So... what did happen?" Savron asked, unable to hold himself back any longer. "I mean, within ten seconds of you going in there, your hind paw turned blue, cuts covered your body, and you started crying. What did that to you?"

Voltlyn started, and glanced down at the paw she had accidentally dipped in the water, and flexed it. The paw had a bright red tinge to it from where it had been frozen and was still slightly cold to the touch, but otherwise seemed perfectly fine. Satisfied, Voltlyn let her hind leg drop back to the ground and turned back to Lyrith to watch him sleep, not sure what to say.

Everyone waited with baited breath, eager to listen to her tale.

I... I don't know where to begin." Voltlyn whispered, her eyes downcast. "I don't even think I should say... after everything I've seen in there, I don't think it was right of me to invade his thoughts like I did, let alone tell people about it... I'm sorry."

Inferna sighed, and drew her close with a wing, hugging her lightly. "It's alright dear, I think I understand. But I'm sure he'd be more than grateful for what you've done. Look how relaxed he is, whatever you did in there, it seems to have helped."

Voltlyn sniffed, and shook her head. "No, you... you don't understand. He doesn't want anyone close to him. He's hurt. So badly hurt that he can't let anyone close to him. He... he'll probably hate me now... because I made him..."

"What do you mean?" Igneous asked, frowning. "He's hurt how?"

Voltlyn opened her muzzle to speak, only for the collective memory of his life to stab into her hear, silencing her with a short sob.

"I... I can't tell you." Voltlyn sighed after a long moment, finally managing to force back her tears. "He... he should be the one to say, not me. I don't have the right to tell you."

Everyone sighed in dissapointment, but nodded their understanding. Lyrith had done his upmost to keep his past distant from them, so it was better he was the one who told them, and not someone else.

"Alright, I understand." Inferna murmured, putting a paw on Voltlyn's shoulder. "It's best if you don't say anything for now. Now come on, you and Vash need your rest. It has been a stressful experience for you two... Plus, I think visiting hours are over." Inferna finished, nodding to where Aquina stood watching them, sternly tapping a claw on the dirt floor. The blue dragoness coughed to catch all of their attention and smiled grimly in agreement to Inferna's statement.

"Yes, visiting hours are over. Lyrith and all the other patients need their rest and your chattering is keeping everyone from it. You can come back and visit him tomorrow."

Inferna and the students shrugged and rose, knowing there was no way they could talk Aquina into giving them even a few more minutes. They trudged out of the tent, glancing back at the near motionless white form of Lyrith one more time before Aquina shut the tent flap. They moved quietly back towards their tents, none knowing what else to say. None were more sombre, however, than Voltlyn, who moved with her head low to the ground, her blue eyes distant. The others eyed her with concerned as they split off, heading for their own tents, wishing they knew what to say to cheer her up.

Voltlyn ignored their glances and shambled into her tent, her tail dragging along on the ground behind her. Once inside, she slumped down onto the small bedspread and curled up, covering her head with her wings. She lay there for a long while, quivering, her snuffles muffled by her wing. Then, eventually, she fell into a deep slumber, her dreams of her childhood mixing with the visions she had witnessed, dragging her deeper into the darkness.

**Dardarax's Characters:**

Lyrith, Malicina

Savron, Voltlyn, Igneous, Tirren, Vash, Danrah, Sleet, Typhous, Zindy,

Inferna, Aquina, Deran,

Thunder/Burnam.

One of the most important chapters in the story, if not the most important.

I'm sure you can see why.

I wanted this one to be the best I could get it, so I was forced to cut it off from chapter 29 to be it's own bit. I feel quite proud of it, since it managed to reduce me to tears on each read through. =) I just hope I didn't make it too sappy. Dx

Regardless, I hope you 'enjoyed' this chapter, it is **very** important to the story, and tells you basically everything you need to know about Lyrith... well... nearly everything. x3 It doesn't say who his family was. =P

I would have given it a bit more time before posting, but unfortunately I have to go on vacation for a week or so, and had to post it today (August 3rd), since I wouldn't have the internet connection to post it while I'm away. :P

Now then, thanks for reading and adieu. ^^ I'll see you all when I get back. =3

PS. 41000 hits on DL... I feel so loved. ;_;


	31. Foreboding Skies

Chapter 31. Foreboding Skies

By. Dardarax

_Disclaimer:__ I, Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other place or character belonging to the Spyro franchise. Several of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names will be listed at the bottom. Sorry everyone, no disclaimer jokes here today. Got to take breaks from the randomness sometimes._ xD

Thunder boomed as the rain lashed the lush, green canopy overhead. The branches of the mighty trees groaned as the tempest clawed at them. The pervasive rustle of millions of leaves were accompanied by the cracks of thunder and breaking branches. Below, in the ramshackle huts of the Grasbronda slums soldiers hustled about, fortifying key positions and organizing troops for a possible ambush. Sitting just outside the center of the commotion was the clinic, in a constant state of flux as soldiers moved in and out, checking on the wounded and carrying out the dead.

Inside Lyrith lay blearily on his cot, blinking up at the clinic ceiling and watching the shadows of the rain drizzling down from the roof. One by one he flexed his toes and talons, checking to see if everything was in working order. He had no idea how he had gotten here, but he was more than grateful for it.

"Anywhere is better than being in that closet of horror." Lyrith murmured, casually kicking off the bedsheets, and stretching out on the small cot. "At least here I have a bed."

Lyrith jumped as a particularly loud crack of thunder sounded, his scales tingling as static electricity washed over him.

"ANCESTORS!" Came a familiar voice from outside the clinic. "That was close! I hope nobody was in that building!"

"Statistically speaking, that should have been impossible." Came another voice, quailing slightly in the aftermath of the bolt. "That bolt of lightning should have gone for the trees, which are at least five times larger than that house. It makes no sense that it should have..."

"What does it matter if it doesn't make any sense? It happened, deal with it!"

Lyrith turned to face the tent flap as the newcomers entered, the white relaxing at the sight of Savron, Igneous and Sleet. They looked up and over at Lyrith, and brightened upon seeing him awake.

"Guys!" Savron shouted, turning to shove his head out the door. "He's awake!"

Abruptly Lyrith found himself swarmed by his friends, Sleet, Igneous, Tirren, Danrah, Voltlyn, Typhous, Savron and even Vash all rushing up to the side of his bed, though Vash took up a facade of casualness as he did so.

"He's awake! How's he doing?" Tirren blurted as she ground to a halt by his bedside.

"What did that sorcerer do to you?" Savron demanded, his face a mixture of relief and terror.

"We're so sorry we let this happen to you! Next time we'll..."

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you want me to..."

Lyrith groaned as they bombarded him with questions and requests, gritting his fangs as they started to shout to be heard over one another. Finally, having enough, Lyrith grabbed Savron's and Vash's heads and banged them together sharply. Both the dream dragon and the purple dragon cried out in shock and pain and everyone abruptly fell silent.

"Shut up." Lyrith muttered, rubbing his face with his paws. "Just... shut up. I'm getting a headache."

"Ow, well you didn't have to hurt us to get us to shut up." Savron grumbled as he rubbed his head. Lyrith gave him a heated stare, his red eyes flashing. Savron's muzzle snapped shut, as did Vash's who was just about to make his own objection.

Lyrith laid his head back on the cushion and shut his eyes. "Good, that's better. Now, if you are going to insist on questioning me, then be quieter and less obnoxious about it."

Everyone looked at each other and grinned. It was good old Lyrith alright. Lyrith opened his eyes and noticed their expressions and snorted, rolling his eyes. Voltlyn smiled from the back of the group, relieved to see that her intrusion had done no damage to him.

"So..." Savron murmured, having blinked away his tears of pain. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." Lyrith grunted, raising a paw to examine his claws.

"Fine?" Igneous asked, puzzled.

Lyrith cast Igneous a dirty look. "Must I repeat myself?"

"You're as grumpy as usual, Lyr." Inferna said, stalking into the clinic. Lyrith looked over at her and smirked.

"Exactly on time." Lyrith said, smirking.

"Am I so predictable?" Inferna asked, concerned as she took a seat by his bed.

"You do have a talent of showing up in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time," Lyrith replied shifting on the bed, causing his snow white scales to gleam in the lamp light. "or as the case often is, the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Whatever do you mean?" Inferna asked, giving Lyrith a sly smile. Lyrith rolled his eyes and turned his gaze away from her, back to the others.

"Well?" He asked, tapping a claw impatiently on the bed. "Is that all you're going to ask? Or is your curiosity sated?"

"I think we'd like to know what happened to you, Lyr." Inferna remarked from off to the side. "If it isn't too painful for you to relate the tale to us."

Lyrith gazed at Inferna thoughtfully. "Alright. What do you know already?"

"Well, we know that you got separated from us." Danrah piped in. "And that you got into a big fight with a 'blood dragon,' and were captured by some weird magic user named Jaxar."

"And that you were... er... tortured with some spiders." Savron continued, grimacing.

Lyrith nodded slowly. "Well..." He started, taping a claw against his white chin as he considered where to start. Everyone leaned in close, waiting to hear what he had to say. Lyrith grunted in irritation, but did not object.

"Jaxar was working for the one who attacked the Temple." Lyrith said finally, deciding to start with some more useful information.

"We figured as much." Inferna responded, nodding to Lyrith. "Ramolous is the one responsible. He even sent a letter of confession not long ago, in fact, not long before you were recovered. Jaxar is well known as his advisor."

Lyrith looked to Inferna and then shrugged. "I didn't hear a name, but apparently Jaxar was forced under his command, though he wanted to get out of it. I don't really believe him in hindsight, but that's what he told me."

"And what did he do to you?" Inferna asked, worriedly. "He didn't..."

"He locked me up in a cell for a while, healed me of my injuries, and then talked to me. After that, well, the spiders."

"He **talked** to you?" Inferna muttered skeptically.

Lyrith snorted derisively at her response. "Yes, he **talked** to me. He brought me into a room, and chatted. It all came around to him asking me to..." Lyrith paused, not sure if he wanted to tell them what happened next, but then finished anyways. "He wanted me to help him break free of his master's control, by absorbing the power from the crystal on top of his staff."

"And... and did you..." Inferna started to ask, and then stopped herself, realizing how stupid the question was.

"I didn't." Lyrith replied, nodding. Inferna sighed in relief.

"Good. The Crystal was purple wasn't it?"

Lyrith nodded. Inferna sighed.

"Then it is even better you didn't take it. A fury crystal of that size would have more than likely killed you. No doubt he told you it would give you powers?"

Lyrith nodded once more, his expression turning grim.

"It's popular myth that a fury crystal can overcharge an Albino with magic, and unlock some kind of power in them, but there have never been any cases where it actually happened. Without any outlet to channel that energy into, it goes straight for an Albino's heart, which then explodes, killing them instantly. Some few have survived the experience, having not absorbed enough power to kill them, but they don't live very pleasant, or long lives afterwords."

Lyrith swallowed hard, suddenly realizing what he had nearly done.

"Though I can't help but wonder where he got a fury crystal that large." Inferna mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "They're almost as rare as spirit gems now, ever since Spyro pulled the world back together. He said something about having absorbed most of them through the 'Heart' to get enough power to pull everything back together, but I have no idea what he was talking about."

The space around Lyrith's bed was silent for a moment as Inferna pondered. Then, Inferna blinked, snapping out of her thoughts when she realized the tangent she had gone off on.

"Oh... right," Inferna coughed, apologetically. "Is there anything else you'd like to add, Lyr?"

Lyrith hesitated for a long moment, thinking back, trying to decide it he should tell them everything that had happened. He shook his head slowly. "No... there isn't." He murmured, his red eyes moving to look into Inferna's hazel eyes, before turning away once more.

Inferna shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."

Lyrith nodded and everyone fell silent. The Albino shifted awkwardly on the bed, looking up uncomfortably at everyone around him. Lyrith sighed and rose up on the bed, moving to roll off of it. Lyr abruptly found himself forced down by Inferna and several of his friends.

"Oh no you don't." Inferna grumbled, giving Lyrith a cold glare. "We're not going to let you strain yourself until you're completely healed. You've gone through a lot, and you **need** your rest. And that's not to mention how much trouble you're in for coming here."

Lyrith let out a long groan at the declaration, and laid his head back on the bed. He rolled his eyes as they glared down at him, expecting him to object. Lyrith slowly looked himself over for injuries, examining his paws and torso and found no cuts or bruises. Savron, Tirren, Igneous, Voltlyn, Sleet, Danrah, Vash, Inferna and Typhous watched him with weary eyes, knowing he was planning something.

"Well I feel perfectly fine." Lyrith replied blandly, turning to look each of them in the eye. "How about you help me up, so I can see if I can stand. We can talk about the punishments later."

Dubiously, Inferna helped Lyrith out of bed, making sure he moved slowly, so as not to strain himself. He accepted the help grudgingly, grumbling the entire way. Inferna stepped back once he had gained his paws and stood by him anxiously, ready to come to his aid should he fall. Lyrith looked around at his friends as they watched him worriedly, and sighed. He stretched out his legs one at a time, and then, before any of them could act, crouched and launched himself into the air.

Everyone gasped as he curled back, stretching his sinewy body out as he flipped about and landed softly on his paws once more, in one fluid backflip. He turned his smug gaze about at their shocked expressions, muzzles agape at the stunt.

"Ta-da." Lyrith murmured, amusement colouring his monotone voice. Savron broke into harsh guffaws, his thick purple body doubling over as he struggled to contain his mirth at Lyrith's sly grin.

Inferna and the others rolled their eyes, though they couldn't help but smile.

"Fine, fine. I think you've proven your point." Inferna sighed tiredly as Lyrith took a seat beside the bed, stretching out his cramped muscles. "I guess you are fully recovered. Though, I didn't think anyone could recover from that kind of ordeal that quickly."

"Yeah." Sleet agreed nodding. "It's quite miraculous, even with the help of crystals."

"Hey, Aquina!" Savron called out, over to the blue water dragoness as she padded into the tent. "Looks like your crystals really did the trick, he's back up and doing backflips already! Literally!"

Aquina stopped and stared at them, her gaze turning to Lyrith in puzzlement. Lyr grinned, feeling more alive than he ever had before.

"I'm going for a walk, anyone want to join me?" He asked glancing around at his friends, a genuine smile breaking over his face for the first time in ages. Everyone nodded enthusiastically, joyous to see him so happy.

"Alright, let's go." The white dragon said, turning to pad out the infirmary. Voltlyn couldn't help but grin in satisfaction and relief as he immediately stepped up beside her. They walked out, his lithe body relaxing once he was near her.

Inferna followed after them, not wanting to leave the group of students unsupervised for any amount of time, and gave Aquina a grateful glance as she passed her by. Aquina watched them leave, her muzzle slightly agape. Slowly, her long serpentine-like body stiff, she walked over to Lyrith's cot and picked out a small container she had left by the bed. Aquina opened it and looked inside. She shook her coral horned head in confusion as she tilted it, letting the five glowing red shards fall out onto her paw. Aquina glanced back to the tent flap, her muzzle pressed tightly together, her face etched with utter confusion.

"But... I have not given him his life crystals yet..."

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go along with this?" Cyril asked Spyro anxiously as the purple hero and Cynder strapped on their armour.

"For the last time Cyril, yes!" Spyro snapped, belting on his helm, and throwing the visor down. "We **have** to go."

"Even though you know it's most likely a trap?" The Ice Guardian demanded, frustrated.

"**Yes**." Both Spyro and Cynder groaned, rolling their eyes. "Even though we know it's probably a trap."

Cyril huffed, rolling his eyes. Terrador sighed and rose to put a paw on Cyril's shoulder comfortingly.

"I don't see why you are so worried, my friend. I will be there to watch their back." Terrador said consolingly.

"As will a squad of the best of our warriors." Pyron grunted from the entrance of the Guardians' tents, stepping in fully armoured. "If there is a trap awaiting you there, they will protect you long enough for you to escape the palace."

"Regardless, we must take this risk." Prowlus grunted from beside Pyron, hobbling in alongside him. "If there is a way to end this war in one fell swoop, we must take it."

Cynder grunted as she fastened on her own helmet, and glanced over to Spyro. "There's no need to be concerned about us, we can handle anything he throws at us."

"Ramolous is a famous warrior of the feran empire, he should not be taken lightly." Pyron snorted, shaking his head, the frills on his helm swaying as he moved.

"True, but against the two of us he won't stand a chance." Spyro smirked, rising up from where he had been sitting, to stretch. "Even if he brings a dozen of his best with him to the fight. We've faced down far worse than a rebellious prince and his soldiers with just the two of us."

The King shrugged. "So long as you do not get overconfident, this battle should go in our favour. I trust your skills."

"We're ready." Cynder stated, tightening the last few straps of her armour. "Is everything else prepared?"

"The soldiers are set to escort you to the palace." Prowlus said, glancing outside the tent to the squad of dragons waiting. "They will follow behind you a short distance, to make sure nothing can ambush you from behind."

"And as an extra precaution," Pyron murmured, striding over to Terrador, and presenting the earth guardian with an ivory horn. "I want you to take this horn. If you are ambushed and are having difficulty escaping, blow on this three times. Two battalions will be at the ready in case of emergency, if they hear that horn, they will come to your rescue."

Terrador nodded his thanks and hung the horn around his neck, using the leather thong attached to it. The three heroes stepped past the kings and out into the open, heading towards their escort. The soldiers saluted the three as they took position in front of them.

Terrador nodded back and barked out orders. "You know your mission? Good. Then take formation and follow us. We're heading into the heart of the beast."

The soldiers saluted once more and took position behind Terrador, Spyro and Cynder. The great green Earth Guardian glanced over to the purple and black dragons.

"Alright, let's get going. They're bound to be getting impatient "

Spyro and Cynder nodded, unfurling their wings and, taking a running leap, bound into the air. Terrador and the warriors followed along behind, spiraling up towards the leafy city above. They landed on one of the great wooden walkways that spanned the tree-bound city of Grasbronda, and looked around at the sprawling city of trees.

"Huh... maybe he really does intend to duel us fair and square." Spyro murmured, turning to face the gargantuan tree that made up the palace. "If he was going to ambush us, the best time he could have done it was while we were coming up. He's already shown us how deadly his archers can be."

"That does not mean we should not be vigilant." Terrador snorted, turning his hard gaze to Spyro, and shaking his head. "This could be a trick to lull us into a false sense of security."

"I know, I know." Spyro replied, rolling his eyes and waving a paw dismissively in Terrador's direction. "We will. I was just saying, that's all."

Terrador grunted and moved ahead, leading the way towards the palace. Spyro, Cynder and the soldiers followed along behind, tense and ready for attack. The tree branch streets were empty of life, with nothing but the occasional abandoned cart or crate to remind them that there had once been life bustling through the city. Finally they arrived at the palace gates, and noticed the squadron of guards waiting on the other side.

"We are here on Ramolous' request." Terrador rumbled, his gruff, commanding voice booming in the silence. The lead guard, a thickly built, brown maned feran glanced back to his commander, who nodded. Slowly, suspiciously, the guards opened the gate, weapons readied as they watched to see what the invaders would do. Spyro and Cynder stepped through the open gates, and nodded to the commander.

"Ramolous said that only you two would be coming." The officer, a black and white streaked panther grunted, glaring at the two heroes, a hand on his mace.

"It's a precaution." Terrador replied, moving to stand by the purple and black dragons.

The panther sneered. "A precaution, huh? We should be the one saying that, **Guardian**." Without waiting for a reply, the commander whirled and marched away, the soldiers moving to surround the three and their soldiers, keeping a good distance away, while still remaining a threat. Terrador, Spyro, Cynder and the soldiers relaxed, having tensed at the sudden action.

"Come with us." The commander called, not turning to see if they obeyed. They did. The guards marched the invaders into the palace, the colossal, iron shod wooden doors swinging wide to allow them entry.

Spyro and Cynder gazed about at the fantastic tree palace around them, wondering at the archaic designs and furniture carved into the living wood of the great tree. They had been there only once before, back when they had been arranging the treaty with Kaiser; the sights astonished them then, and it did not cease to now.

Spyro's wandering eyes stopped when he noticed the hordes of citizens, Feran, Panther and even some of the other races camping out in the grand hall. He swallowed hard when he noticed their cold, expressions. An eerie silence filled the hall, broken only by the sound of the marching soldiers. The citizens watched the heroes pass, bodies tense and fangs bared.

Finally, the commander came to a stop in front of the gargantuan door leading into the throne room. The panther turned to face Terrador.

"You may go no further. Only the purple and black ones may enter, his majesty's orders."

"And how can we trust that there won't be an ambush on the other side?" Terrador said, his muzzle curling back over his fangs. "At least allow me to see what is inside before turning us away."

"We have let you come this far, Guardian." The panther sneered. "There would be no point in striking now, when we have had half a dozen better opportunities before now."

"And what if you are just trying to make us lower our guard?" Terrador demanded, his voice harsh.

Spyro cut off the feline's bitter response, with a shake of his head. "Terrador, just stay out here. You've done your job. If there's an ambush inside, we'll call for help."

Terrador sighed, and nodded. "Alright. We will wait here for you. Good luck, Spyro, Cynder."

The two nodded silently as the commander and several of his soldiers, swung the doors open, and stepped inside. They were met by a chill and empty room, the vast interior devoid of all life, except for the single figure sitting upon the throne in the center of the room. Ramolous stood as the doors behind the two creeped shut, and stepped down from the dais.

Cynder's muzzle peeled back over her fangs as she and her mate lowered into a defensive crouch.

"Ramolous." She hissed, her emerald eyes flashing.

Ramolous nodded, sneering. "It is... good to see you two as well, especially under these circumstances. I thought the day would never come."

"Why have you done this?" Spyro snarled, flames flickering from the corners of his muzzle. "Why did you attack the Temple? Why do you hate us so much that you were willing to ignite a war to get to us?"

"Getting right to the questions, are we?" Ramolous chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "To be honest though, I did not think I would have to explain myself. I thought my actions are basically self explanatory. You two need to die, for everyone's sakes. This isn't about hate, though I do despise you Spyro."

Spyro opened his muzzle to reply, but was cut short when he noticed the pale sheen to Ramolous's scales, and the white streaks running over his oddly thin and gaunt body. Ramolous continued on, barely noticing Spyro's reaction to his appearance, his eyes burning with a sickly intensity.

"This is not about me. Yes, I have done some horrible things to get this far, but it is all for the greater good. Nothing I have done can compare to what you will do if I do not end this now. Oh yes, I know what you two are planning, do not think you can fool me otherwise."

Cynder glanced over to Spyro, puzzled as Ramolous came to a stop several meters away from them, barely taking the time to breathe as he ranted.

"I have known it all along. You have everyone else fooled, but not me. You and all your kind, Spyro, are malicious to the core, it is the nature of the purple dragons."

"I... I don't..." Spyro murmured, shocked and confused at the sureness in Ramolous's declarations.

Ramolous continued on, completely ignoring the two as he spilled out his heart to them.

"It is a shame about you though, Cynder. You never had a choice. You were captured and **tainted** by them. You may have broken their spell, but it is still there, waiting. I would spare you, but eventually it will awaken once more and will have been my fault for not stopping it. I have to end it, before it can..."

Cynder lunged and smashed Ramolous across the face with a paw, sending him crashing to the ground. The prince rolled to the side, avoiding a slash of her tail and clambered to his paws, eyes wide in amazement.

"You... you hit me!" He roared, raising a paw to his face in shock, staring at the black dragoness in disbelief. "You hit me while I was still talking! That's... that's..."

"That's war for you, bitch." Cynder sneered, her fangs bared. "It's not fair, so get over it. You invited us here for a duel, not a tea party."

Spyro choked back a laugh, doing his best not to break his ferocious grimace as he stalked around to flank Ramolous. The Feran's gaze narrowed.

"I see... I was wrong about you, Cynder. You have fallen to the darkness."

Cynder lashed out again, but Ramolous was ready and ducked it, hopping to the side to get out from between the two heroes. He whipped his head around and screamed, letting loose a wave of red energy at the two. Spyro and Cynder threw themselves to the side to avoid the banshee scream and shot forward, moving to circle Ramolous. The prince watched them stalk around him cautiously with amusement, his sneering smirk returning to his face.

"I should not be surprised, though, Cynder. After all, your mate is a purple dragon. He has no doubt been taking advantage of your 'curse' from the moment you two were chained together, so I should not blame you for your actions. It is all the work of your 'lover' after all."

Spyro roared in rage and opened his maw, releasing a storm of crackling lighting towards the maned, light red dragon. Ramolous flinched, having no time to dodge, and raised a wing to protect himself. Abruptly, the bolts vanished as they neared him, fading away as if they had never been there in the first place. Ramolous cracked open his dark brown eye and laughed breathlessly.

"It... it actually worked!" He cheered, raising his head in a triumphant roar. Spyro and Cynder stared at him stupidly, stunned into silence by what they had just witnessed.

Ramolous grinned at their stupefied expressions. "With this, it does not matter whether or not you are a purple dragon, you are completely powerless against me!"

Ramolous lunged forward, fangs bared as he went for the purple dragon's golden throat. Spyro desperately rolled to the side, sending a burst of fire towards the prince, which dissipated as it neared the dragon's pale red scales.

"Oh yes, I am going to enjoy this." Ramolous hissed as Spyro and Cynder retreated to regroup their eyes fearful as realization of what they were facing started to sink in. "Oh! Oh, so much."

* * *

"I can't believe that Aquina still isn't letting Lyr leave the tent!" Savron sighed, shifting on his seat in agitation. The purple dragon gazed down at the clinic from where they sat atop one of the many buildings of Grasbronda minor. Rain pattered softly around them, the young dragons sheltered under a small overhang off the building next door. "He's perfectly fine! There's no need for her to keep him locked up there. It's not fair."

"Well, I suppose it does sort of make sense." Tirren admitted, shrugging. Savron glared at her, his emerald eyes narrowing. Tirren hurriedly moved to defend her remark. "Well, he may seem perfectly fine, but after getting pumped up with that much venom, there might still be after-effects she needs to watch out for."

Savron sighed, his broad, purple body relaxing slightly. "I suppose that's true, but I would've still liked to hang out with him a bit. I owe it to him after letting him get captured like that."

"Still Sav, this may be for the best." Igneous murmured, shrugging. "We don't want him getting hurt because we were bored."

Savron nodded, turning his gaze up to the rustling canopy above. The others followed his gaze, and remained silent for a long while, the awkward silence between them deepening. Savron shifted, and shook his head, the droplets of water clinging to his golden horns flying away.

"I wonder how they're doing up there?" Savron murmured, finally breaking the silence.

"I'm sure they're doing fine, Sav." Tirren said, turning her sapphire gaze towards him, giving him a reassuring smile.

Savron smiled back, and nodded in return, opening his muzzle to reply. "Th..."

A sharp scream of pain cut Savron off, and the purple dragon's head whipped around to face the source of the noise, lurching to his paws with remarkable speed. The others also jerked to their paws, eyes wide in fright. They all inhaled sharply as they focused on the source of the cry.

Not far away, several guards were swarmed by a horde of panthers and ferans boiling out from gaps in the tree roots. The mob of jungle folk wildly swung crude weapons, ineffectively battering the shields and armour of the soldiers. The camp around them burst into action. Guards who had been waiting at their posts, tense and stressed, reacted almost instantaneously, unsheathing weapons and jumping into the fray without hesitation.

Savron took a quick, unthinking step forward, towards the battle and then paused, remembering the order his parents had given him. The others stepped up beside him.

"Come on, Sav, we should get back to our tents." Sleet whispered, glancing between the burly, silver-frilled purple and the legions of pitchfork and wood-axe wielding panthers. "Cynder told us not to join in on any of the battles..."

"Sleet's right." Danrah said from behind the two, causing Savron to glance back at the many horned black dragoness. "We should go before anything happens."

The others nodded in agreement, and turned to rush toward the tent, only to be stopped by a dark, red streaked dragon landing in front of them. A low, menacing chuckle emanated from the beastly dragon's cavernous maw, its two great fangs dripping with cold saliva as its barbed tongue tasted the air.

"Exshellent," The dragon whispered, its sibilant voice dripping malice as it took a languid step towards the wide eyed students. "I've found the main coursh. I hope you don't mind, but I prefer mine **raw** and very much** alive**..."

* * *

Lyrith groaned as he rolled over on his cot, covering his head with a cushion as a thunderclap sounded overhead. The white dragon curled up into an even tighter ball, doing his best to cover his throbbing head as the thunder and ruckus around him stabbed into his skull. Anger bubbled in his chest at his situation. He was stuck in bed while nurses tended to him, forcing him to down foul tasting concoctions that left him weary and in a foul mood. Lyrith growled at a feline nurse who came to check on him, glaring out from under his pillow with blood streaked red eyes. The feline backed off, smiling and shaking her head as she turned away.

The Albino dragon sighed once more, grumpily, displeased with how he could not leave and wander. He was feeling just fine. Better than he had for a long time, or at least he had until they had forced the medicine down his throat. Lyrith was quite sure it was the tincture they had concocted that had left him with such a powerful throbbing headache, though the nurses insisted it was the endless booming of thunder.

"I'm sorry sir, visiting hours are over." One of the nurses complained from the front of the tent, chidingly. "Come back tomorrow, after the battle is..."

"I'm afraid I don't have time, and must insist." The silky voice replied, the familiar, chill sweetness causing Lyrith's eyes to snap open in dread. The white Albino had no time to shout out a warning before a scream rent the air, causing all the ruckus to stop abruptly. Lyrith jerked his head out from under a pillow, his eyes seeking out the speaker, his worst fears realized. Jaxar stood above the form of a plump ice dragoness, who lay torn in twain, the lower portion of her body laying directly in front of the sorcerer, while the still screaming upper half lay a few feet to his left. The occupants of the clinic stared, mortified at the scene, too shocked to think of screaming.

Jaxar glanced around as he stepped further into the tent, over the dying upper half of the ice dragoness, his sunken red-orange eyes searching the room. Lyrith's scales tingled with a terrified chill as they came to rest upon him. A broad, relieved grin spread across Jaxar's face as he saw Lyrith, and he let out a pleased chuckle.

"Excellent! I was hoping this would be the right place! Can never be sure, right? So many clinics to choose from. Luckily I have this to help the selection out." Jaxar tapped the incandescent purple crystal topping his staff, nodding knowingly. Lyrith rolled out of bed, into a crouching position his throbbing head forgotten. The white dragon's hackles rose as he bared his fangs in a fierce snarl.

"What do you want, Jaxar?"

"What do I want? I want you, you silly Albino you." Jaxar said, grinning as he continued forward, his crooked teeth showing through his sugar sweet smile. "I need you, so I came to pick you up. I'm sorry about the mess, but I am in a bit of a hurry. Can't stay too long, you know."

Behind Jaxar one of the nursemaids, a pink fire dragoness bolted for the exit. Jaxar's crystal flickered for a moment as the pink dragoness made her escape, and Jaxar suddenly whirled around, lashing his hand out at her. A coiled whip of lighting streaked out of his hand and sheared clean through two of the dragoness's legs. The nurse maid scream and tumbled to the ground, howling as she stared at the stumps of her right legs.

"Tut tut." Jaxar murmured, shaking his head disapprovingly at the dragoness. "I never gave you permission to leave. I'm letting you off with a warning this time, since I forgot to set the rules here. Next time someone tries to leave, I will take their head. Also, don't bother screaming for help, nobody will hear you, and you will just make a fool out of yourself. Just sit there nicely and wait for us to leave. This should not take long."

Lyrith stared at Jaxar with fear and loathing, his stomach churning at the cheerful way he addressed everyone after so casually crippling a dragoness for life. Once Jaxar was sure nobody would attempt to escape, he turned back to Lyrith, smiling.

"So, come on and pack your bags. Time to get going. We have a lot ahead of us, so we better get going now."

"Fuck you." Lyrith spat, sneering. "I'm not going anywhere with you, not after you tortured me and tried to kill me."

Jaxar blinked in surprise. "Tried to kill you? What do you mean?"

Lyrith laughed harshly. "You know, the whole fury crystal thing? You knew right from the start it would kill me. Though I'm rather puzzled that you would let me live and spare my life, just so you could kill me later. Seems like a rather stupid plan to me."

Jaxar raised an eye brow. "You're right, it would be a stupid plan to kill you off with a rare fury crystal when I could have left you to die. Which is why I didn't do that. That crystal **will** give you powers; It's special that way. Now then, are you coming or not? The offer is still open."

"No. I'm not going to have anything to do with your **plans**. You won't trick me twice."

Jaxar sighed, shrugging. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way then." The sorcerer turned to a bedridden cheetah, and flicked his wrist. The cheetah burst into flames. Lyrith's eyes bulged out when the feline screamed in agony as the flames ate away at her flesh, writhing on the bed as she tried vainly to escape her bonds. The other occupants screamed in fright, many covering their eyes as the cheetah was roasted alive.

Jaxar turned to Lyrith as the cheetah finally stopped struggling, her body reduced to little more than charred tendons and bones, and shrugged. "Now then. Every time you refuse my offer, I'll kill one of the other fine people here in a similar manner. Normally I am not so hasty, but I have tried to be reasonable and I simply do not have the patience today for games; so please, do not try my patience."

Lyrith gazed at Jaxar, true terror, something he had not experienced for the longest time of his life freezing him in place.

"You're... you're a monster..." Lyrith murmured, having no idea what else to say.

Jaxar chuckled, lifting a hand and conjuring a small ball of flame in it. "My, I've been hearing that a lot recently. I wonder why?"

* * *

Spyro groaned in pain as he slumped to the ground from where he had just been tossed across the room. The purple struggled back to his paws, panting as he glanced back over to where Cynder fought with Ramolous, swiping her claws at the elusive feran prince, who simply laughed at their frustration. The feran prince took a quick hop back, just dodging a tail sweep at his legs and screamed, sending a blast of fear energy straight into the black dragoness's face. Cynder shrugged the paralyzing blast off just in time to duck a powerful swing from his paw, which was aiming to take her head off from her shoulders.

_"Dammit Spyro!"_ Cynder hissed rebukingly across the mental link the two established at the start of the fight. _"Aren't you used to fighting off foes without your magic? You fought Gaul without magic that one time, why are you having such a hard time?"_

_"I've gotten sloppy, okay!"_ Spyro said back defensively, shaking his head to clear it, before bounding back into the fray. _"It's been decades since I've had to do anything like this! Plus, I never lacked magic for very long in those sorts of fights, I always had the power of Convexity to fall back on. Even that doesn't work on this guy!"_

Ramolous laughed as the pair retreated a short distance away from him, trying to gain some ground to formulate a strategy. The pale crimson prince followed after them, spitting out several bursts of fear energy to force them apart. Spyro stumbled back, panting hard, smoke billowing out of his muzzle with each breath. He glanced over to Cynder, seeing her in a similar condition.

"Why are you doing this?" Cynder demanded, glancing over at Spyro as they continued to back away, hoping to gain some time. Spyro gave her a quick grin at her remark, knowing what she was getting at. "You said you did all this to kill us. Why? What have we ever done to you?"

Ramolous paused, surprised at the remark. "What, you want me to **explain** it to you? You who should know better than anyone why I am doing all of this?"

"Er... yeah." Spyro replied, hiding his relief at seeing Ramolous take the bait. "If you're going to kill us, we'd at least like to know exactly why you hate us so much."

Ramolous stared at them incredulously, then shrugged. "Well, where would I begin?"

Cynder cast a hidden smirk over to Spyro, winking slyly. The two started looking for something to help them gain an edge of the prince during the fight.

"I suppose it all began twenty six years ago when Malefor returned from the grave and invaded Grasbronda. He captured the city with ease, and started off his new reign by torturing my mother to death before my very eyes."

Spyro and Cynder froze, their eyes flying wide at the cold, bitter sneer in Ramolous's voice. They returned their gazes to him, and balked at the searing loathing in his eyes as he stared at them, a vicious grimace twisting over his muzzle.

Cynder swallowed, and then spat back, remembering that he was trying to kill them. "I don't see how that has anything to do with us!"

"I suppose you're right." Ramolous sneered, resuming his walk, stalking around the pair. "It's not as if someone was supposed to go and stop his return on the Night of Eternal Darkness, and instead decided to HIDE AWAY IN A CAVE FOR THREE YEARS!" Ramolous roared, spittle flying from his muzzle.

Spyro and Cynder's hackles raised, and they glanced at each other, gulping.

"Oh... Crap." Spyro said weakly, swallowing hard.

"Of course, that's just what they all tell me." Ramolous continued, the bile in his voice so hateful that he could peel paint with his words alone. "'Oh the heroes didn't have time, they would have died if they didn't use their time fury. They had to survive to defeat him later.' Hah! They would change their tune if they knew you had absorbed dark energy from the Well of Souls that night, for your own selfish powerlust!"

Spyro jerked back, shocked that the prince knew about the events of the Night of Eternal Darkness. About how he had accidentally taken in some of the convexity surging out of the well.

"How... how did you know?" Spyro asked of the feran, flustered. "The only ones we told were the Guardians!"

"Oh let's just say I was **advised** of the truth." Ramolous sneered, his brown eyes all but bulgding out of his head as he raved, his face twisitng into a manic snarl. "Of course, that wasn't enough for you, was it? You wanted more! So you let Malefor free and hid away for some three years, to let the Dark Master gain power. Then you 'nobly' set off and killed him, secretly absorbing **his** power too!"

"Spyro never took his power!" Cynder roared, her fury boiling to the surface. "And he only took the convexity by accident! He never meant to take it!"

"Oh Cynder, Cynder." Ramolous murmured, his demented ravings stopping for a moment, to be replaced by patronizing smiles. "He has you wrapped around his little claw, doesn't he?"

Cynder frowned at his statement, startled and more than a little disturbed at his abrupt change in attitude.

"I can't really blame you all that much for what you've done. It isn't really all your fault. He's twisted you to do his every little bidding. You are well and truly his now, aren't you?"

"I... what do you mean?" Cynder demanded, snarling. Spyro glanced between them, too stunned to speak.

"How can none of you see it? He's been manipulating you all! From the very beginning this... this purple monster has been twisting your thoughts and feelings. He's been taking advantage of you. Its the nature of the purple dragons to do so. He's made you what you are now: his lacky, his toy. It's because you're so far gone that I have to kill you. I don't want to and I don't blame you, but I simply have to."

"You're out of your mind!" Spyro hissed, his anger now flaring up. He stepped between Cynder and Ramolous protectively, snarling at the pink feran.

Ramolous sneered. "You on the other paw... you need to die. You've infected this world long enough. You've fooled the entire world into thinking that you're their hero, that you're always doing the right thing, but I know better. You're just playing them, all of them. I know I will be hated for what I've done, but I don't care. I'm ridding this world of its greatest evil, and that is enough for me."

With that, Ramolous howled, lunging at Spyro. The purple dragon ducked under the crazed feran's snapping jaws and spun about, clubbing Ramolous across the face with his tail. Snarling and spitting Ramolous hit the floor. The feran quickly rose to his paws, only to be assaulted by Cynder. Ramolous roared in pain as Cynder's razor sharp claws sheared through his leather armour, tearing large cuts into his side.

Ramolous took a quick step back, to get some distance between him and the two furious dragons. Before Cynder or Spyro could close in on him, the feran prince spat half a dozen red orbs into the air. The shrieking orbs curved wildly, arcing towards the pair. Spyro and Cynder barely had time to dive to the side before the orbs crashed into the ground, bursting with a blast of red energy.

Cynder groaned and rose shakily to her paws, only for Ramolous to swoop down to her and smashed her in the face with his paw, sending her crashing down once more. Swiftly, the prince grabbed her tail in his jaws and swung her about with enormous strength, hurling her at one of the nearby walls.

The black dragoness curled up as she sped towards the wall, summoning her wind magic to cushion the impact, only to find that it wouldn't respond to her summons. Cynder crashed into the wall and screamed in pain as her wings snapped from the impact.

"CYNDER!" Spyro cried, turning to face his fallen mate, his expression horrified.

Ramolous grinned and lurched forward, striking the purple dragon while his attention was away from him. His paw caught Spyro across the face to send the purple dragon sprawling. Ramolous' claws carving long jagged cuts across Spyro's face as it knocked the helmet from Spyro's head.

"It's amazing how pitiful you are, without your magic to fall back upon." Ramolous chuckled, shaking his head as he sauntered over to the purple dragon. "Tell me, how does it feel to be little more than a coloured Albino?"

Spyro forced himself to his paws and quickly dived away from the sudden burst of fear energy Ramolous sent his way. Moving as quickly as he could, Spyro rushed over to Cynder's side, hurriedly helping her up.

"This... this was really your best plan... huh?" Cynder groaned, accepting Spyro's help up, wincing as her limp wings brushed against her mate's side.

"What do you mean?" Ramolous asked, smirking as he approached them, his crazed eyes burning. "This was the perfect plan! I got both of you right where I want you!"

"I... I beg to differ." Cynder gasped, shoving off of Spyro so she could stand on her own four paws, glaring at Ramolous mockingly. "You may have us in a corner, but think of all the people who had to die because of it? Think of what you've done to your people. Do you think your people will ever get the peace treaty they wanted with us after all you've done? They'd be lucky to get an alliance with anyone now after the betrayal you've commited."

"I alone am responsible for this coup," Ramolous stated, sneering. "I made that quite clear in my letter. You would have no reason to not continue the treaty."

"That won't change the fact that hundreds of our own people have died by your subjects' paws during this war, or that it was your subjects who slaughtered the innocents in the Temple. By your orders or not, you have engraved your peoples' names in ours minds as traitors and murderers." Cynder replied, snorting.

"That's... that's..." Ramolous stuttered, his expression twisting up into a frown.

"You may kill us this day, but our people's minds, the blood is on your people's paws as much as your own." Cynder sneered, her emerald eyes blazing. "You have dragged your entire nation in on your plan by tricking them, and while you may be the purpetrator, who knows how many might suffer because of it."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Ramolous roared, his eyes flashing with fury. "How unforgiving must you be to even consider punishing my people for **my** crimes!?"

"Coming from you?" Spyro laughed, fury edging his voice. "The one who would start this whole war just to get us here, because you can't forgive what **someone else** did to your mother?"

"SHUT UP!" Ramolous roared, hurling himself at the pair. Spyro intercepted the lunge with his own, defending Cynder with his own body. The two clawed and bit at one another as they tumbled to the ground, talons and fangs tearing through armour to dig deep into their respective flesh.

Cynder paused long enough to grab a pawful of lifecrystals she had brought with her and swallow it. Once she was sure her wings were in good enough condition to not impede her movement, Cynder rushed forward to help her mate.

"And that's not even getting started on the plan itself!" Cynder continued on mercilessly, batting Ramolous across the face and forcing him away from her mate. "If you were so intent on killing us, why did you not just wait until the treaty was finished, come with your father for the final agreement and kill us during the ceremony? We would have been completely helpless against such a surprise attack!"

"SHUT UP!" Ramolous howled, blasting Cynder with a bombardment of red orbs, which she easily avoided by diving into her own shadow.

"Or even better!" Spyro hissed, picking up from where Cynder left off, his violet eyes blazing with fury. "Why not just challenge us to a friendly duel, and 'accidentally' kill us during it? That way you could have gotten the fight you so desprately seem to want, and killed us in the process!"

"BE QUIET! This... this was the **best** plan! He... **he** told me so! Stop trying to trick me!" Ramolous wailed, clutching at his head as they barraged him with doubts.

Spyro glanced over at Cynder as she emerged from the shadows and they nodded to each other, grinning. They quickly circled around Ramolous, flanking him as they moved in for the kill.

"You never would have had to involve your people, it could have just been the actions of a rogue prince acting out his own petty venge..."

"ENOUGH!" Ramolous roared, rising up onto his hind paws, his eyes flashing blood red. "I WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOUR **EVIL** LIES! JUST **DIE**!"

Spyro and Cynder gasped as an explosion of red light swallowed them, flooding out from Ramolous to consume the entire room in its radience.

_Spyro opened his eyes to find himself lying amidst the wreckage of the Temple, covered in blood. He gazed around at the destruction about him, trying to figure out what had happened. A whimper caught his attention and Spyro turned to face the sound. Spyro froze. The sound had come from the disembowled remains of Inferna, who bled out beside him. Spyro started to his paws, choking in horror. It was only then that he noticed the black hue to his scales and he felt his heart stop._

_ "W... why?" Came a choking voice beside him, "why did you do this?"_

_ Spyro whirled around to face Cyril, blanching at the ice Guardian's mangled face._

_ "I... I don't..." Spyro stammered, utter horror clenching his chest._

_ "Dad... why...?"_

_ Spyro stiffened, his eyes flying wide. He turned slowly to Savron, his eyes tearing up at the sight of his dismembered son lying curled up against Cynder, who lay unmoving not far away._

_ "S... Sav? Cyn?" Spyro whimpered, shaking his head in horror as he took a step back, unwilling to accept what had happened around him. _

_ A paw fell comfortingly onto his shoulders._

_ "Excellent work, Spyro." A deep, powerful voice rumbled, amused._

_ "No..." Spyro whispered, dread swelling in his chest at the familiar voice. The blackened purple dragon shook, unwilling to turn around to face the Dark Master._

_ "I wasn't sure you had it in you, but you impress. You will make a great successor, Spyro."_

_ "This is all a dream." Spyro roared shutting his eyes. "None of this is real. This can't be real... Focus on something else... FOCUS!"_

Ramolous panted hard, breathless from releasing such a powerful fury on the pair. He glanced around and huffed, smirking at the sight of the pair lying frozen on the ground, twisting and turning as the agonizing dreams tore their minds apart bit by bit. The prince paused for a moment, to give himself enough time to catch his breath before moving over to the purple dragon, his sneer twisting his pale pink face.

"I will rip that twisted, evil tongue from your throat and end your tyrrany once and for all. Your lies will never fall on innocent ears ever again."

_"Now then my prodigy," Malefor whispered, his rumbling chuckle reverberating around Spyro's head. "go and tear the throat out of my unfaithful slave; she is of no more use to me."_

_ Spyro gritted his fangs as he started forward, moving step by step towards the unmoving black dragoness. He tried to force himself to stay still, but found he had absolutely no control over his body anymore. Savron gazed up at his father as he approached, tears trickling down his face. The young purple crawled over his mother's neck with his two remaining paws, shielding Cynder from Spyro._

_ "Dad, stop this!" Savron sobbed, quaking where he lay. "Please!"_

Ramolous raised his paw into the air, extending his claws as he prepared to carve out the purple dragon's throat, revelling in the moment he had been waiting for for decades.

_"I... I was fighting Ramolous..." Spyro remembered, squeezing his eyes shut as he forced himself to remember what had really been going on. "He used a fear fury on us..." _

_ Spyro came to a stop over the unconcious Cynder, his black scales radiating utter darkness as he gazed down at the pair. _

_ "This is all an illusion," Spyro murmured, desprately blocking out the scene of him raising his paw, claws outstretched. "I just have to ignore it and cut myself away from..."_

_ Spyro struck out at Savron, clawing the young purple away from Cynder. Spyro's concentration crumbled upon hearing the horrifying crunch of bones as he clawed the life out of his son. _

_ "NO!" Spyro cried, his eyes flying wide as he lurched forward momentarily regaining control._

Taking one last deep breath, Ramolous lashed down. Abruptly Spyro jerked to the side, curling up just enough to shield his throat from the slash. The painful shock of Ramolous's claws digging deep into his shoulder was enough to break the spell, and Spyro's eyes snapped open.

Spyro acted on instinct, rolling onto his side and kicking up, knocking Ramolous off of him. Ramolous landed hard on his back and rolled to his paws, snarling.

"Dammit! Why won't you just die?!" The feran howled, frustrated hatred tainting his proud voice.

Spyro simply panted, his heart pounding at the realization of how close he had been to dying. He glanced over at the prone figure of Cynder and felt a sheer quiver of horror as the memory of what he had done in his dream flashed through him. He quickly shook it off, remembering that it had all been a fear induced illusion.

_"Come on Cynder, wake up! I need you here with me."_

Spyro barely had time to duck out of the way as Ramolous sent a flurry of red spheres his way. The purple gasped as the fear blasts exploded beside him, the red energy just grazing him and sending bursts of tingling pain up through his scales. Spyro landed on his paws and lunged forward, jaws aimed at Ramolous's neck.

The prince sidestepped the lunge, but did not anticipate the tailswing Spyro had aimed his way and staggered back yowling. Spyro whirled around and bashed Ramolous across the head several times with his paws, forcing the maned, cat tailed drake backwards. Ramolous quickly recovered and the pair exchanged blows for a time, roaring and spitting blood as each tried to end the other as quickly as possible.

Finally having had enough, Ramolous stepped foward, into Spyro's attack and howled, blasting the purple right in the face with a concentrated Banshee scream. Spyro gasped, his limbs freezing in place as he toppled to the ground. Ramolous roared and lunged at the downed Purple, seeing his chance.

Ramolous did not go for the kill, but instead clawed Spyro across the face, the razor sharp talons tearing easily through the thin purple scales. The prince continued the assault, venting all his frustration and hatred into each blow, tearing and clawing at the helpless purple with all his might. The fear holding Spyro paralyzed quickly faded under the brutal beating, but the purple drake found he had no way of counter attacking as Ramolous rained blows down upon him. With his protective earth magic refusing to come to his aid, Spyro was left with no choice but to curl himself into a ball and take each and every hit.

Ramolous stopped just before killing Spyro and pulled back, panting hard. He glanced over to the still unconcious Cynder, and then back to Spyro. A wicked smile crossed his face. He turned away from Spyro and slunk over to Cynder, his bloodied claws tapping on the polished wooden floor.

"No..." Spyro moaned, his body twitching as he tried to lift his broken, torn up body up off the foor. "D... don't..."

"You may be a monster," Ramolous hissed, his eyes blazing with fury. "but you obviously have some affection towards your slave... I think it's time I repaid the debt your kind owes me."

Spyro whimpered and tried desperately to claw his way over to Cynder, but the throbbing agony tearing him apart kept him from doing little more than twitching his talons. Ramolous came to a stop by the black dragoness and looked over her, smirking at how she twisted and writhed on the ground, sobbing weakly in terror.

"I wonder what kind of dreams she's having?" Ramolous murmured as he rose up, unsheathing his claws as he raised his paw. "Because they will be her last."

The door to the throne room burst open and Terrador, his soldiers and several ferans and panthers poured in. Ramolous glanced up over to them, his expression shocked.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The prince demanded, turning to face the intruders. "None were supposed to enter until after the battle!"

"By order of King Kaiser," The captain of the feran guard declared, stepping forward to address Ramolous. "Prince Ramolous is to be placed under arrest for treason, inciting war and assaulting the king. Stand down immediately, or we will use force!"

Terrador glanced over the battlefield and gazed at the pair of heroes, shocked to see them in such a state. The Guardian of Stone turned his eyes back to Ramolous, his green eyes narrowing.

Ramolous glanced around, his eyes widening. "No! Not now! I'm so close! I have them at my mercy!"

"Stand down, Ramolous!" Kaiser bellowed as he limped into the room, the emaciated king leaning heavily on a feran soldier. "Don't make this any worse for us!"

"I can't!" The feran prince roared, turning back to Spyro, his hackles raising. "They have to die! Don't you see that? Our survival depends on it!"

The captain of the guard signalled to the panther warriors, and they took up position, knocking arrows to their bows. Ramolous looked between the archers and Spyro, his breathing growing faster and faster. He had to act. Ramolous pounced at the fallen purple, roaring, his fangs gleaming as he aimed to take out Spyro's throat.

The archers opened fire.

Ramolous howled as the arrows slammed into him in midair, throwing him to the side. The pale red dragon crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath as he clawed weakly at the ground, the entire right side of his body pincushioned with arrows. He tried to rise to his paws once more, only for his legs to give out on him.

Terrador watched as the prince started to drag himself closer to Spyro. The Earth Guardian sighed and padded over to the purple dragon's side, placing a paw over the fallen prince's neck, stopping him.

"You've lost, Ramolous." Terrador grumbled, his eyes boring into the prince's. "So stay down and die like the dog you are."

"I have to thank you, Guardian," The captain of the guard murmured as he and Kaiser moved up to the green and purple dragon. "had you not shown me that letter, we would never have been able to save his majesty."

"Indeed," Kaiser chuckled weakly, coughing. "I haven't eaten in days. My so... Ramolous had forgotten to have me fed. I might have starved to death if you had not come to our aid."

"To think we were so foolish to believe his lies." The Panther captain huffed, shaking his head as he looked down at the pitiful sight of Ramolous.

Ramolous whimpered, as he vainly tried to continue clawing his way towards Spyro, tears dribbling down his face as he started to cough up blood. Terrador let the prince go so the guards could chain the rogue and turned to Spyro, his expression concerned.

"Are you alright?" The Guardian asked as he kneeled down beside Spyro.

The purple dragon coughed. "I feel about as good as I look." Spyro chuckled, cracking open one of his swollen purple eyes, forcing a smile onto his blood soaked face. "I... I don't think he did any damage to anything vital... though I might bleed to death if someone doesn't bandage me up soon... also I think both of my forelegs are broken... they hurt like hell..."

"You look like hell." Terrador sighed, shaking his head. "How did he do this to you?" The Guardian asked, glancing between Spyro and Cynder, frowning.

"He... he had some sort of anti-magic abilities... we couldn't use any of our magic against him, but he could... he could use his own... we were completely outmatched..."

"I apologize for what you two must have gone through." Kaiser murmured, sighing as he sat down slowly beside the pair. "I wish I had the strength to have stood up against Ramolous, but I am not the drake I used to be. I am not much of a king..."

"That is not entirely true." Terrador rumbled, turning to gaze at Kaiser. "A weak king would not have been able to stand up to his son, let alone try and fight him. You **have** done both, and were not hesitant to put him down when necessary."

Kaiser smiled wanly. "That may be true, but I do not feel any less weak as it is."

"Could... could you please wake Cynder up..." Spyro groaned, peering past the two towards his mate. "She... she's still under the influence of Ramolous's fear fury... I can't imagine what she's seeing right now..."

"Of course." Kaiser murmured, rising to his paws and staggering over to the black dragoness. "It is the least I could do to repay you."

Spyro glanced up at Terrador, smiling wanly. "Thanks for coming when you did... you saved Cyn's life... not to mention my own."

"You need not think about it." Terrador rumbled, giving Spyro a small smile as well. "I am simply doing what any good friend would do."

"Yeah... I see the backup plan really worked out." Spyro winced as several panthers moved to attend to him, wrapping bandages around his limbs and applying salve to his wounds.

"Indeed. It turns out Ramolous had not done anything to hide the fact that the documents were his own. It took mere moments to realize what it meant. After showing them we went off immediately to find Kaiser. It is good to know that it really was only Ramolous that had started this coup, and that we will not have to extend this war any further."

Spyro opened his muzzle to respond, when a gasp statled him. Off to the side, Cynder was staring around, panting, her emerald eyes wide. She groaned and clutched her head, doing her best to force the memories out of her head and away from her concious. It did not take her long to recover, and she soon stood, only to see Spyro lying bleeding on the ground, and Ramolous being dragged off.

The black dragoness rushed over to Spyro and threw herself onto him, holding him tight. Spyro winced as pain flared up over his body, and he vainly struggled to escape her vice-like hold.

"C... Cynder! Ow! Let go!"

"S... sorry." Cynder whispered, pulling back. "I didn't think..."

"That's alright." Spyro chuckled wearily, sighing in relief.

"Oh Spyro, I'm so sorry." Cynder sighed, her head bowing in shame. "I was so useless. I couldn't escape the dream. It... it was just so horrible. Now I wake up to find the battle over and you mauled..."

"Don't worry about it." Spyro murmured, nudging her snout with his own. "As you can see, I was pretty useless as well. If Terrador hadn't come in and saved our asses, we'd be pretty dead right now."

"Yeah... I can see that." Cynder replied, smiling slightly. She nodded her thanks to the Earth Guardian.

"Besides, my dream couldn't have been worse than yours, what with all the horrors you've experienced," Spyro groaned, his hind leg twitching as a panther started wrapping it up in bandages. "so I suppose it only makes sense I was able to escape it when you couldn't. I bet if I was in your position, I wouldn't have gotten out of it either."

Cynder gave Spyro a full smile, and she bumped him lightly on the shoulder. "Yeah... probably... you were always a big baby when it came to nightmares."

"Yeah, I know." Spyro chuckled, sighing.

"King Kaiser!"

"What is it, Marshal?" King Kaiser replied, turning to face the panther marshal as he ran into the throne room.

"Some citizens have left their hiding places and have started attacking the encarpment below!"

"WHAT?!" Kaiser roared, shocked. Terrador, Cynder and Spyro all glanced over to the pair, startled.

"I tried to stop them, but they completely ignored me! It was as if they were in some kind of trance."

"A trance... Jaxar." Kaiser hissed, his eyes flashing. "I would bet my throne that the sorcerer is behind this!"

"Don't marshal your troops." Terrador ordered, coming to a stop beside the king. "They would take it as a threat. Instead, allow me and my warriors to go down and try to sort this all out. You may come with us if you wish, to ensure the Kings that you were not behind this."

"I will." Kaiser said, straightening up. "It is about time I took action to remedy my so... Ramolous's folly. I simply hope that these innocents will be able to escape, they would never lead a charge like that without some kind of magical force driving them."

"Spyro, you will have to stay behind." Terrador barked, glancing over to the two sharply. "Cynder, I know your mate is injured, but we could use your help. Besides, your son might be in danger."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Cynder murmured, nodding as she rose to her paws. "That boy is always getting himself into trouble."

"Let us hurry then." Terrador muttered, turning away to stride out of the throne room. "We may not have much time before something happens we will all regret."

**Characters Created by Dardarax:**

Savron's Gang: Savron, Sleet, Typhous, Lyrith, Voltlyn, Vash, Danrah, Igneous, Tirren

Inferna, Pyron, Aquina

Ramolous, Travix, Jaxar

Yet another split up chapter. There was going to be the battles with Travix and Jaxar in here initially, but I decided to save that for the next chapter (along with the conclusion to the war at the end.) There will still be another chapter after that one, along with an epilogue, but I am finally almost done this project of mine. ^.^ That means I can start up on FC, EH soon. =3

Well, until next time. ;)


	32. Darkest Before Dawn

Chapter 32. Darkest Before Dawn

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. Oh yonder ye waffle maker breaks, leaving our stomachs empty and in anguish; mashed potatoes. A good number of my characters are featured in this chapter, their names are listed at the bottom._

"Who... who are you?" Savron stammered as the monstrous black and red drake advanced on them, its barbed tongue moistening its maw in anticipation. Savron, Tirren, Igneous, Sleet, Danrah and the others slowly backed away, moving along the roof they had camped out on. Rain pattered down around them, doing nothing to drown out the screams of the assaulting ferans and panthers as the professional soldiers cut them down.

Travix did not even bother to reply to the demand and instead lunged, jaws agape as he aimed for the young purple's throat. Savron lurched to the side, tucking and rolling out of the way. Travix landed a few feet behind the purple drake and spun around, clubbing Sleet across the head with his thick tail.

"Sav!" Sleet groaned, clambering back up onto his paws with the help of Tirren and Voltlyn. "Watch out! That's a blood dragon! They drink blood and feed off of flesh to gain power!"

"A blood..." Sav murmured, glaring at Travix for a long moment. "Does that mean he's the one who attacked Lyr!?"

Travix snorted, baring his fangs. "He attacked me! I wash jusht minding my own bushiness, looking for lunch when he attacked me out of nowhere! Well now I won't haff to worry about him getting in the way now and I can **finally** get a tashte of purple flesh."

"Bastard!" Savron spat, his emerald eyes narrowing, ignoring the last comment. "How dare you do that to Lyrith!"

"Sho he wash your friend, wash he?" Travix chuckled, slowly stalking around the group. "Who would haff thought? An Albino with friendsh that high up? Almosht as rare as a blood dragon is nowadaysh..."

Savron snarled and spat a glob of fire at the blood drake, taking a step back as Travix circled them. The black and red dragon snorted and ducked to the side, evading the blast.

"You know, he wash a lot of fun to play with." Travix continued tauntingly. "Put up quite a good fight... shtill no match for me though, I could haff killed him at anytime had I choshen to. Now you on the other paw... you will be **fun**. I haffent had fun in a **long** time."

With that, Travix lunged again, his movements almost too fast to see. With no time to dodge, Savron was forced to dive into his own shadow, dragging Sleet, Tirren and Vash along behind him. They burst from the shadows under a large tree not far away and found Danrah, Voltlyn and Typhous emerging a short distance away, having also shadow jumped. Only Igneous had stayed behind and he was fighting desperately to stay alive.

The blood dragon was barely visible as he shot forward and back, moving with such speed that he was all but impossible to follow with eyes alone. Igneous ducked, dived and dodged each attack, parrying only when necessary for his survival, which was more often than he liked. The broad shouldered red looked hopelessly for an opening he could exploit, but could see none that he was agile enough to use. A powerful swing caught him across the side of the head and Igneous was sent crashing to the ground.

Sav snarled and bolted forward, launching himself at Travix's side while he was distracted. The blood dragon saw it coming too late. Savron slammed into him, his purple body glowing with green energy. The blow knocked Travix prone, sending the two tumbling to the ground.

The pair snarled and clawed at one another, both struggling for dominance as they attempted to tear the other apart. Finally, Sav's magically enhanced strength gave out and he was flung away from Travix, to land with a grunt on his back. The purple drake flipped back onto his paws and hurled himself to the side to avoid Travix's lunge.

Savron glanced up as he climbed back onto his paws and noticed Tirren, Igneous and Danrah circling around to flank the snarling blood drake. Travix focused in on the young purple and darted forward, ignoring everything else around him. Rather than ducking out of the way, Sav slammed his paw into the ground and tore up a massive sheet of stone infront of him.

Rather than hearing a solid thud of Travix hitting the stone like he was hoping for, there was instead a quick skipping sound as the blood drake vaulted over the obstacle. Savron just barely managed to duck out of the way as Travix swooped down from above, fangs gnashing.

Backpedaling as fast as he could, Savron retreated, desperately avoiding the monstrous dragon's vicious fangs. His saving grace came when a blast of fire exploded up from Travix's shadow, scorching his underbelly. The blood dragon screamed in furious agony and dived to the side, trying vainly to find cover from the onslaught. Savron glanced quickly over to the side and grinned when he saw Igneous breathing fire into a dark pool of shadows Danrah had created.

Snarling and spitting, Travix turned on the pair and lunged, only to be intercepted by a sharp blast of green energy from Tirren.

"Hurry up and do something, Sav!" Tirren shouted as she bombarded the scorched drake with a hail of stones. "Don't just stand there like an idiot!"

Smirking, Savron bound into action, arcs of lightning sparking over his body.

"Got you Rin!" He shouted, moving to flank Travix. "Keep him distracted!"

Travix, hearing this whirled to face Savron, only to receive a face full of lightning. He howled as the bolts tore through him, vicious spasms rocking his body as the lightning coursed through him. Igneous followed this up with another explosive burst of fire through the shadow link, blazing Travix with another gout of flame.

Desperately, Travix rose up onto his hind legs and carved a pair of runes into the air with his claws, roaring an incantation. The first he slammed into his chest, causing a whole array of glowing sigils to flare to life over his body. The next he hurled at the ground, towards Tirren. The rune struck the ground and blazed to life, burning a hole through reality. An eerie bluish light poured from the hole and a twisted four armed imp crawled out, chittering.

"Kill the green one!" Travix howled, his eyes blazing with fury. "And make it ash painful as posshible! I don't want her interfering!"

The imp cackled and turned to face Tirren, launching itself at her. Tirren yelped in surprise and rolled out of the way while blasting it with an orb of green energy. With Tirren out of the way, Travix turned to face the violet dragon, snarling. Igneous released another powerful burst of fire through the portal, but much to their horror, it merely washed over Travix without effect. Travix snickered and cut several long lines down his forelegs, drawing blood. With a twirl and a flick of his paw, the blood dragon hurled the droplets of blood at the pair. The blood hardened into bullets instantly and the two not ready for that kind of attack, were struck square in the flanks.

Savron gasped, his eyes flying wide as the two fell over, crying out in pain. Travix smirked and twisted his paw, manipulating the bullets of blood inside the pair to expand and widen their wounds.

"That will teach you not to get in the way of my prey." Travix chuckled, turning to face Savron. "Now then purple, let's play one on one."

"You monster!" Savron howled, hurling himself at Travix.

Travix sneered and raised a paw to strike at Savron as he was coming. Once the purple was within range, he lashed out, eagerly anticipating the crunch of bones. He was sorely disappointed. Savron abruptly ducked the swing and head-butted Travix from underneath, he had been expecting such a cocky move from the blood dragon. Then, before Travix could retaliate, Savron leapt to the side and dove into the shadows, vanishing from sight. Travix glanced around, trying to locate the missing purple, only to find his paws being dragged out from under him. Travix glanced down and saw Savron yanking his paws out from underneath him and pulling his forelegs into the shadows. Travix's chin hit the ground hard.

Savron emerged from the shadow of a tree close by, pulling the blood dragon's legs out of the shadows with him. Then he turned, keeping a tight grip on his legs and blasted him with dozens of arcs of lightning. Travix hissed as the arcs struck him, singeing his hide before the glowing runes reflected the bolts.

Thinking quickly Travix jerked his paws closer to himself, forcing Savron to tighten his grip and accidentally dug his claws too deep into his hide, drawing blood. Immediately the blood formed into spikes that jammed themselves into Savron's paws, causing him to cry out and let go. Travix pulled his legs out of the shadows and carved a deep wound across his scalp, drawing a gout of blood. He waited half a second for the red life fluids to soak his paw, before hurling them at Savron, forming them into deadly spikes.

Tirren ducked and dodged the imp's sharp claws, trying vainly to strike out at the skittering creature. It was simply too fast, moving at mind numbing speed and leaving the green dragoness dizzy and confused. For every one of its swings she dodged, she received two more hits for her efforts. While it wasn't doing much damage, it was still drawing plenty of blood. Tirren knew that if this battle was drawn out any more, she might simply bleed to death.

Unable to simply avoid the attacks, Tirren dug her claws into the earth and drew up her power, accepting the couple scratches she received for the action. Before the Imp could take advantage of her stillness, a thick rocky shell rose up around her, forming her into a small boulder.

With the imp no longer a problem for the moment, Tirren took the time to survey the battle though the holes in the stones. Igneous and Danrah were being helped to their paws by Vash, the Blood dragon too focused on Savron to notice. The others, Voltlyn, Sleet and Typhous were all backed up into a corner not far from the battle, but far enough to not draw attention to themselves. The battle with the panthers and ferans below had progressed into little more than a bloody slaughter. Whatever had driven the panthers and ferans had finally worn off, but they had no choice but to fight on, as their path of retreat had long since been cut off.

The scraping of claws drew Tirren's attention back to the imp and to her shock she realized that it had been rapidly prying away the stones. Acting quickly, Tirren re-activated her magic and forced the boulder forward, rolling it right over the imp. It just barely managed to dive out of the way, though in its haste it tripped and one of its arms was crushed under the rock. Tirren quickly rolled over to Igneous and dispelled the rock, glancing back at the imp as it howled in pain, clutching at the bloody mess of its arm.

"Igneous," Tirren panted, turning back to face the red dragon. "are you two alright?"

"We're fine." Igneous groaned, placing a paw on one of the wounds the bullets of blood had inflicted. "It hurts, but I don't think it'll kill me."

"Same." Danrah grunted, shaking her head to clear away the fog of pain.

"Good, because I have a plan." Tirren murmured, glancing back at the screeching imp as it charged them. "But I need some help first to get rid of this thing. Could you do that, Vash?"

Vash glanced from Tirren, to the imp to Danrah. He nodded slowly. "Yes I can, I'm not much of a fighter, but I can slow it down for you."

"That'll do." Tirren said, crouching as she faced the imp, ready to meet its charge. "Give us a moment and I can explain our plan."

Savron just narrowly ducked the spikes, gasping as he felt them graze his back. He hit the ground at a roll and flipped up onto his paws, only to be blindsided by the blood dragon's claws. The purple drake staggered back, caught off guard by the beastly drake's surprise attack. Travix, seeing his opportunity lashed out with his other paw, aiming for Savron's neck. Savron squeezed his eyes shut and jerked back, hoping to avoid the attack. A blast of superheated ash smog caught Travix right in the face.

Travix howled, his swing flying wide as he staggered back, clawing at his streaming eyes. Savron sighed in relief as Igneous burst from the blood drake's shadows and tackled him, sending Travix sprawling.

Tirren smirked, seeing the red drake flooring Travix out of the corner of her eye as she and Vash cornered the Imp. The three armed abomination screeched and threw itself at Tirren, claws outstretched as it tried to claw out the green dragoness's eyes. Tirren whirled around and smacked it to the side with her tail. Vash lunged and pinned the imp down and leaned forward, exhaling. A thin fog of bluish gas billowed out of his muzzle, catching the imp right in the face. It opened its mouth to scream and inhaled the gas. The beast's eyes glazed over and it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

Nodding in approval, Tirren moved up beside Vash and glanced down at the imp.

"How long will it be out?" She asked, panting lightly.

"It should be about an hour," Vash murmured, looking up at the green dragoness. "but I can't be sure, as this thing's physiology might be different from ours, so it could work it off much quicker that a dragon would."

"It'll have to do." Tirren replied, turning to watch the fight with Travix. "Now to take care of..."

"IGNEOUS! NOOO!"

Savron and Igneous circled around Travix, searching for an opening in the drake's wild flailings. They darted in and out, slashing the blinded Travix with their claws in the hopes they would hit something vital before he could hit them in return.

Travix snarled in frustration as he lashed out at where he hoped they would be. His anger grew with each missed swipe of his claws and each bright spark of agony that light up on his flanks. Travix blinked rapidly, trying to clear his blurred and teary vision, vainly trying to make sense of the swirl of colours around him.

Igneous took a step back and blasted Travix's flank with a blaze of fire, hoping it would finally pierce the armour of runes coating him. The fire washed over Travix, the runes flaring to life as they redirected the flames. Igneous snorted in consternation, frustrated at the uselessness of his element. Before he could move to change his position, Travix exploded out from the flames, hurling himself at Igneous, howling.

The red dragon had no time to avoid him before Travix was on him, a powerful paw crashed into his face and sent him sprawling. Savron could only cry out, his bursts of lightning useless as Travix socked Igneous in the throat, stunning him long enough for Travix to sink his fangs into the smaller drake's stomach.

Tirren whirled around at Savron's cry, her eyes flying wide at the sight of Igneous impaled by the blood dragon's fangs. The emerald green earth dragoness found herself frozen in place, mortified by the sight before her. Danrah and the others gasped, shocked by what had just happened. After a moment of stunned horror, Igneous screamed once and then fell limp, his eyes glazing over and sliding shut.

Travix smirked and hunched over, taking a long slurp of blood out of the limp dragon, enjoying every drop. Revitalized by the blood of the young red, Travix's eyes quickly healed, clearing away the ash.

Before Travix could take another slurp, a great blast of purple energy caught him by the side. Travix howled as the purple fire burnt his side, causing the runes to flare up like miniature suns before giving way. The blood dragon threw himself off of Igneous, tumbling head over paw to escape the burst of Convexity. Travix spun to face the source of the blast, and his muzzle fell open.

Savron stood a few meters off, snarling. His vibrant purple scales were stained with flickering blackness and his eyes glowed with a sickly yellowish light. Savron spat to the side and loped over to Igneous, unleashing another blast of convexity towards Travix. The blood dragon hurled himself away, but was too slow and his tail caught in the blast. Travix screamed in pain as he hit the ground and flipped to his paws, glancing down teary eyed at his tail. Only a mere stump remained.

"You killed him!" Savron howled, tears trickling down his face as he stood protectively over Igneous, a paw on his friend's chest. "You bastard!"

A shiver of fear ran down Travix's spine as he realized what he was now up against. A young purple was one thing, but a darkened purple of any age was more than a match for all but the mightiest of creatures. Desperately, Travix turned to run, panic rising up in his chest. Savron did not give the beastly dragon a chance to flee. Taking a step forward, Savron spat an arc of purple lightning toward Travix, aiming for his paws.

Travix gasped as the lightning seared clean through his hind leg, ripping it off. He crumpled to the ground, squeezing his eyes shut as the world swam about him. He nearly blacked out as agony tore through him. Savron sneered, tears flowing from his eyes as he took yet another step forward, purple fire billowing out from his nostrils.

"You **monster**!**" **Savron roared, his hide now stained utterly. "How could you do that! He was my **best friend**!"

Travix dragged himself forward, vainly trying to escape the fury of the purple, his breaths coming in panicked bursts.

Savron grimaced at the dragon's pathetic attempts to escape and walked forward to cut him off.

"P... pleashe don't kill me!" Travix wailed, cowering as Savron loped slowly towards him, the blood dragon's heart hammering in his chest. "I don't want to die! I didn't drain enough blood to kill him! I shwear! I... I had to come! If I didn't, mashter would have obliterated me! Pleashe don't kill me!"

Savron sneered his eyes flaring at the statement. He did not reply, and instead raised a paw, which burst into a wreath of purple flame.

Seeing he had no chance to talk his way out of it, Travix dragged himself to his paws then flung himself at Savron, aiming to take out the purple dragon's throat. Savron simply stepped to the side, avoiding the lunge. Travix hit the ground hard and gasped as he landed on his injured tail and severed leg. Savron gave Travix no second chances and drove his talons into the blood dragon's back.

Travix screeched as the purple fire flooded into his body, arching his back as the convexity boiled his insides and came bursting out of his muzzle. The torment only lasted a few seconds however, as his flesh split open and burnt away, leaving behind only a stone statue of the dragon.

Savron snorted and jerked his paw out of the blood drake's stony flesh, then turned back to Igneous. He padded over to his friend, shivering as darkness ran rampant through him. Savron gazed down at Igneous sorrowfully, his limbs shaking more and more violently until, finally, he let out a mighty roar. A massive column of purple light exploded out from his maw, and into the sky as Savron released all of his emotions at once. Then the darkness seeped away, returning Savron's scales to their normal purple hue. The others hesitated for a moment and then rushed over to Igneous's side.

The purple dragon crouched over Igneous, his paws covering his face. Blood oozed out from the hideous wound puncturing the red dragon's stomach, staining the ground dark red.

"Oh Igneous." Tirren mumbled, her eyes tearing up. Behind them, Danrah glanced Igneous up and down, examining his condition.

"He might still be alive." The shadow dragoness murmured, looking around at the others. "A stomach wound generally doesn't kill, at least not right away. It's all too possible that he is simply unconscious from the pain and blood loss."

Savron looked up at Danrah, hope filling his green eyes. "Really?"

Danrah nodded. "Yes. If we hurry and close up the wound, we could save his life. Does anyone have any life crystals on them?"

"No." Savron groaned, putting his head back in his paws. "Mom and dad took them all away when we got found, remember?"

A loud cheer sounded nearby as finally the panthers and ferans threw down their weapons and fell to their knees, begging for mercy. The students were too preoccupied to notice, however, all of them wracking their minds for something they could do to save Igneous.

Danrah cursed under her breath. "Well surely you can use water magic, right? You are a purple." She retorted a few seconds later, glancing between Igneous and Sav hopefully.

Savron shook his head. "I hadn't been taught anything about water magic yet. I could try, but I doubt it would do any good."

Danrah slumped in defeat. "Well, then there's nothing we can do. We could freeze the wound so that the bleeding slows, but unless we take him to the clinic we won't be able to save him."

"Can we move him?" Tirren asked, starting to panic.

"It would be extremely difficult, and we would likely only worsen his condition." Sleet piped in. "It would take three of us to carry him and the clinic is all the way across the camp!"

"Couldn't we shadow jump?" Typhous blurted, looking between Danrah and Savron.

The two dragons glanced at each other. "It's too far away to go there directly. We could do it in short intervals, but who knows how stressful teleporting through shadows would be on Igneous's condition."

"Well we don't have much more of a cho..." Tirren grunted, only to be cut off by the sounds of heavy wing beats. They all glanced up, and sighed in relief as Cynder descended.

"Sav! Are you..." Cynder started. She stopped when she noticed Igneous and the petrified Travix lying not far off. Her eyes widened. "What happened..."

"I'll explain on the way to the clinic." Savron said, cutting Cynder off. "We need to get Igneous to Aquina for treatment right away!"

Cynder quickly looked Igneous over and nodded. "Alright, I'll take him to Aquina. Meet us at the Royal Infirmary. Aquina was stationed there so that she could receive us if we were injured. She should be tending to your father right now."

"Dad's..." Savron gasped, shocked.

"I'll explain later." Cynder retorted, moving over to Igneous and heaving him up over her back. "Follow me. I can shadow jump right there, though it may take all of you several jumps to get there. Will you be fine?"

"We'll be alright," Savron replied. "We're a little scratched up, but we should manage."

"Good." Cynder huffed, turning away. "And Sav, we will be having a long discussion later. I saw the blast of convexity."

Savron sighed, slumping in defeat. "Alright, mom."

Cynder vanished into the shadows without another word, leaving the others behind. Savron glanced over to Danrah and the others, sighing.

"Well, gather into two groups. One with me, and one with Danrah. We can jump you there."

Wordlessly everyone gathered around the two and a moment later they vanished, disappearing into the darkness. Behind them, the statue of Travix crumbled away into dust, to be blown on the wind up where it joined the smoke rising into the sky.

* * *

"It really isn't all that hard of a decision." Jaxar murmured, a broad smile stretched across his face as he lowered his hand. The screams of the blazing fire drake faded away as he burned to dust on his now smoldering cot. "You come with me, accept the power I've been offering and I let all these poor sods live. Win-win."

Lyrith swallowed, shivering where he stood, his red eyes fixed on Jaxar. The white dragon's mind raced as he tried vainly to think of some way to get out of the situation, running through dozens of possible scenarios. The occupants of the clinic stared at him with stark, solemn expressions, their fate resting in the young white's paws as he hesitated. There was really no other option, he had to go if they were to live.

_"But if I go, Jaxar will no doubt murder everyone here anyways."_ Lyrith thought bitterly, mistrust clenching his chest. _"He lied to me once before, I have no doubt he would do it again."_

Jaxar sighed when he noticed Lyrith's continued apprehension. "Oh come now, that was the second one who died because you couldn't say a simple, one-syllable-word. It looks like another might be added to the list any second now too..."

"Wait!" Lyrith hissed, stopping Jaxar as he raised his hand to smite another of the patients. Jaxar paused, glancing at Lyr with a raised eyebrow.

"You finally had enough?" Jaxar asked, amused. Lyrith grunted.

"Just... just give me a moment to think."

Jaxar let out a long sigh of frustration. "Fine! I will give you exactly sixty seconds, and then I'm going to burn **two** of the patients. That is, unless you make up your mind and come with me."

Lyrith breathed a quick sigh of relief and started gazing about the tent, his mind churning as he tried desperately to think of some way to get the hostages out of the clinic. His red eyes scanned the tent, only to fall upon the physicians huddling in the back, watching the two. Lyr glanced quickly back at Jaxar, who was sitting staring at him, whistling tunelessly. The sorcerer only occasionally glanced back behind him, to check and see if anyone was trying to escape.

The Albino waited for Jaxar to check behind him once more and then quickly gestured to the clinic physicians. They gazed at him stupidly for a moment, still terrified out of their wits. Then they nodded slowly, realizing Lyrith had something planned. Jaxar glanced back at Lyr and yawned, rising back to his feet.

"Alright, minute's up, time to make your decision."

_"It's desperate, but it's my only shot."_ Lyr thought. He took a deep breath as everyone waited to see what would happen. Lyrith stepped towards Jaxar, bowing his head. Jaxar blinked in surprise. Then a wide grin spread across his face.

"Ah, it's good to see some you coming to your senses after a.."

Lyrith stopped in front of Jaxar and socked him as hard as he could between the legs. Jaxar's eyes bulged out and he feel to his knees choking in pain.

Lyrith turned to the physicians and roared with everything he had. "GO! GET THE PATIENTS AND GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

The water dragons hesitated for a split second and then bolted back into the clinic. They grabbed as many of the injured as they could, and proceeded to carry them towards the exit, eyes wide with panicked hope.

Lyrith turned to face Jaxar, but gasped in pain as he was clubbed across the head with the sorcerer's staff. The half breed rose to his feet, snarling as he whirled on the escaping hostages. Lyr could only watch, his vision swimming from the impact as Jaxar raised his hand, and blasted the patients with lightning. They screamed in terror as they were fried, torn apart and blackened by the vicious arcs of lightning. Even the few that had been left behind could not escape the bolts, as the sorcerer swept his arms around the room, frying everyone but him and the Albino to a blackened crisp.

Jaxar tutted as he turned back to Lyrith, a disappointed frown creasing his face as he shook out his smoking hands.

"That was very, very stupid."

Lyrith groaned and tried to rise to his paws, only to gasp in pain as his right paw gave out from under him, agony lancing up his leg. The white dragon looked down, and stared in shock at his mangled paw, which had been crushed from the impact against Jaxar's groin.

"H... how?" Lyrith murmured, panting as pain throbbed up his leg.

"Steel codpiece." Jaxar replied, grimacing slightly as he rapped his knuckles against the area between his legs, producing a metallic note. "I never go into battle without it. Though, by the feel of it I'll need to procure a new one; you left a sizeable dent in it."

Lyrith moaned and glanced up as Jaxar moved away from Lyrith, heading over to the shelf nearby, ignoring the smell of burnt flesh wafting from the mutilated corpses. He picked out a jar of life crystals from the shelf and tossed a few to Lyrith, smiling.

"Well, eat up." The sorcerer declared, smirking at Lyrith's startled face. "I need you in peak condition and a broken paw is not peak condition."

Lyrith glared at Jaxar, his red eyes burning with hate as he gazed down at the white, smirking. Lyr snatched up the crystals and ate them, never breaking eye contact with Jaxar. The sorcerer nodded, never moving from where he stood.

"Excellent! Now then, I seem to have lost my primary means of negotiation because of your reckless actions,"

Lyrith snarled in rage at Jaxar's words, rising to his paws once all the bones had snapped back into place. The white dragon completely ignored the pain.

"And I doubt that the promise of power alone will sway you into coming with me." Jaxar mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully, ignoring the hatred roiling off of the white in waves. "Hm... I don't suppose you have any friends here I could use as hostages...?"

Lyrith roared and pounced at the sorcerer, letting the inferno of fury explode out from where he had been nurturing it. Jaxar jerked back in surprise at the sudden attack, gasping in pain as the white bowled him over. Lyrith's claws dug into the sorcerer's flesh as he brought the half-breed to the ground. Jaxar snarled as Lyrith clawed at him, his jaws snapping down for his neck.

A sudden burst of wind propelled Lyrith off of Jaxar, causing the Albino to strike the ground hard. Lyr rolled quickly back to his paws, where he whirled, facing Jaxar. The sorcerer pulled himself back to his feet, retreating a few steps away. He glanced down at his robes and grimaced, shaking his head at the sight of blood staining them.

"You ruined my favourite set of robes!" He cried beligerently. "Do you know how hard it is to get this kind of fabric?"

Lyrith howled in rage at the sorcerer's remark, infuriated with how little the mage took him seriously. The white dragon hurled himself at Jaxar once more, aiming to rip his throat out with a single lunge. Jaxar snorted and swiped his incandescent staff at Lyrith's head, batting him to the side contemptuously.

"You are quite eager to fight, aren't you?" Jaxar murmured, his eyes flashing with amusement. "Well then, I propose a deal then. **If** you beat me, I'll tell you who your parents are. However, **when** I beat you, you will come with me, conscious or not."

Lyrith spat, snarling. He rose to his paws, shaking the stars out of his vision. Lyr did not reply to Jaxar and instead stalked around him, his keen red eyes searching for any openings. Jaxar simply continued to smile, his posture relaxed and completely at ease. Lyrith sneered, deciding to take the chance while he still had it. Moving quickly, he rushed low to the ground, feinting to try and trip him. Jaxar sprang into action as quickly as Lyrith, his staff whipping down from where he had positioned it on his shoulders. Lyrith bound into the air the moment Jaxar had moved, batting at the half-breed's face with a paw.

Jaxar yelped in shock as the paw connected, then jerked back kicking Lyr in the stomach. Lyrith shrugged the blow off and followed up with a twirl and a tail slash. Jaxar narrowly caught the blade on his staff, only for it to be jerked out of his hands as Lyr yanked it away from him. Disarmed, Jaxar was forced to step away, raising his hands and releasing a sharp blast of lightning. Lyrith yowled in pain falling back as the electricity struck him.

Lyrith pulled away, his body shivering as lightning coursed through it. He did not let that stop him however, and the white quickly bolted to the side to strike at Jaxar from behind. Jaxar, seeing this, turned to face him, only to get blindsided by Lyrith as the white changed direction halfway through.

Jaxar snarled, skipping away as Lyrith's serrated claws tore into his flank, the sorcerer blasting Lyr back with a wind burst. The albino flipped as he was blown backwards, and landed on his paws with a grunt. He sped forward, attempting to strike once more before Jaxar could recover. Instead of reaching for his staff or lashing out with magic like the white dragon expected, the sorcerer simply smiled and opened his mouth. A sudden burst of flame exploded from the sorcerer's maw, striking Lyr across the face. Lyr leapt back howling, his paws rising to cover his face. Jaxar then turned, hefting up his robes slightly as he twirled in place. Lyrith was floored as his hind paws were taken out from under him.

Lyr groaned and peeked through his talons at Jaxar, his eyes watering from the terrible burn covering his face. The white dragon blinked in surprise. Flicking back and forth under the hem of Jaxar's robe Lyrith could just make out the tip of a barbed tail. Jaxar noticed his gaze and snickered.

"Surprised?" He asked, letting his tail sneak out further from his robes, revealing more of the dull lavender scales. "I'm half dragon, if you hadn't guessed. While I may not be the most attractive specimen, I managed to inherit most of your kind's best features." Jaxar unbuttoned the front of his torn robe, pulling it away and letting it fall to the ground. He stretched his lithe frame experimentally, his muscles shifting under the dark, flimsy fur and thin scales that covered his body. His tail was short for a dragon's tail, but was thick and covered in spines, ending in a wicked barb. It flicked from side to side, emerging from a specially made hole in the sorcerer's silky pants. The Jaxar turned to grab the tip of his tail to examine it, revealing to Lyrith two small wings clutched tightly to the sorcerer's back.

When the sorcerer had turned back, his tail tip gripped in his had to show off, he noticed that Lyrith's attention had drifted to his back. He blinked for a moment, puzzled, and then nodded.

"Oh right, my wings. I had completely forgotten about them!" He declared, dropping his tail to reach behind him. He grabbed the tips of his wings and pulled, gritting his teeth as he prised them away from his back. The bones and muscles of his wings groaned as they were moved, stiff from being clenched to his back for so long. "I haven't used them in ages! I was never really much of a flier, to be honest."

Jaxar grimaced as he flapped them experimentally, sighing at the strain in his ligaments. The sickly green sails between the bones hung limply off of them, clearly advertising their lack of use.

Jaxar glanced down at himself as Lyrith slowly rose back to his paws, and gasped slightly. "My talisman!" He cried, bending down to grab his robes. He rifled through them for a moment, before producing a purple scale attached to a leather thong. He sighed in relief, moving to hang it about his neck once more. Lyrith watched him carefully, removing his paw from his face as the pain slowly faded away.

With the talisman secure about his neck once more, Jaxar's smile returned, and he examined himself carefully.

"Hm." He grunted, gazing down at his pants. "I don't think going into battle in only your trousers is very smart. I should fix that."

Jaxar raised his hand, and gestured imperiously at his shadow. At his command, it rose up off of the ground, seeping up his legs and over the rest of his body. Lyrith took a step back at the sight of the sorcerer's shadow leaving the ground to clothe his adversary in darkness. The shadows solidified, forming into plates of dark material over his body, creating a ready suit of armour. The shadows slid over Jaxar's face as well, forming into a visored helm, complete with two wicked horns that arched ominously over his head.

Jaxar smiled from behind his shadowy visor, enjoying the look of shock on the Albino's fresh face. Then, the smile faded.

"Where did your burns go?" Jaxar demanded, confused, his voice echoing though the visor. "Did you eat another life crystal while I was busy?"

Lyrith frowned as well, but did not reply. He had been too transfixed with Jaxar's shadow armour to eat any life crystals.

Jaxar snorted, shaking his head. "Never mind. It matters little. Indeed, it is better this way. As I said earlier, I need you whole. Burning your face was an accident, which I am glad has been rectified."

Lyrith snorted, taking a step back as he glanced about the tent, looking for something to get the upperpaw. Jaxar reclaimed his staff, which he had planted in the earth beside him. He twirled it above his head experimentally, checking to see if his dexterity was not impeded by the armour. It wasn't.

"Well then, I will ask you once more before we commence, Lyrith." Jaxar continued, planting the butt of his staff into the dirt, but retaining his grip on it. "Do you truly wish to fight me? I hold every advantage in this fight. You are a decent fighter, yes, but I'm afraid you are still sorely lacking. It is best if you simply surrender and come along with me. I promise to tell you everything you wish to know should you comply. Your parents, your lineage, even how and why you ended up abandoned with no idea who your real parents were. Doesn't any of that intrigue you?"

"Fuck. You." Lyrith snarled, crouching low, turning his gaze away from some jars and bottles on the racks to his left.

Jaxar sighed mournfully, shrugging. "Have it your way then. Regardless of what you think, you **will** be coming with me."

Lyrith bolted to the right before Jaxar could finish speaking, rushing up to the rack and grabbing a jar of 'medicinal' liquid ice. Jaxar raised his staff as Lyrith turned and whipped the jar at him. Jaxar flinched as the jar struck him, the shards of glass skittering across his shadowy armour. He moved to raise his staff and strike out at Lyrith, only to find himself coated in a thick sheet of ice, which held his limbs in place. Lyrith gave the frozen Jaxar only a glance, before bounding towards the exit, intent on escaping.

Jaxar sneered, smoke billowing out of the shadow visor. His limbs flashed with green earth magic and the ice shattered around him. The half-breed then took two quick steps and vanished into a pool of shadows. Lyrith ground to a halt as he neared the exit, his eyes widening in shock as Jaxar emerged from one of the shadows by the door-flap.

The sorcerer smirked at Lyr's shock and inhaled deeply. He leaned forward as he exhaled, blasting the white dragon with a gale of wind. Lyrith tumbled back, landing on his side with a grunt. Lyrith tried to rise, but was stopped by a short screech, which bathed him in red fear energy. The Albino struggled vainly against his locked limbs, the magical panic filling him forced him into a curled fetal position. Jaxar roamed up to the white dragon and casually swatted him to the side with his staff, sending the curled up dragon rolling and bouncing over the ground.

Jaxar yawned, raising a hand up to his visored face as if to cover his mouth. "This is getting dull. Can we move this along?"

Lyrith rose shakily to his paws, the blow having knocked the fear magic's grip off of him.

"N... no." Lyrith panted, forcing himself to stand strong. "I won't go with you. I **won't** leave."

Jaxar rolled his eyes, all traces of his amusement leaving. "Ancestors!" He cried, throwing his hands up into the air. "Fine! I should have just gone with this from the beginning! It would have saved me so much more ti..."

Jaxar gasped, dropping his staff and clutching at his head. Lyrith blinked in surprise at the action, then, his red eyes narrowed, a small smile creeping over his face.

"You... you died?" Jaxar whispered hoarsely, his eyes fixed on the ground. "You died doing such a simple mission? You... you incompetent idiot!" Jaxar hissed, tearing off his visor. His red-orange eyes watered as he continued to clutch at his head, his breathing hard and heavy. Lyrith slowly crept around the sorcerer, his gaze never wavering from Jaxar as he made for the exit.

The sorcerer noticed the white dragon trying to sneak away and growled, his fury boiling to the surface.

"Stand still!" Jaxar commanded, raising his hand to point to Lyrith. The black crystal ring on his finger flared and a ray of darkness struck Lyrith in the chest. The Albino staggered to a halt, his muzzle falling open as the darkness took hold of him. Lyr looked down, his eyes widening as he saw the blackness creep up over his scales. Lyrith jerked back, trying to break away only to find his limbs locking in place, refusing to budge.

Jaxar spat off to the side, scowling as he wiped his eyes, the shadows fading long enough for him to do so. Then, the sorcerer turned his gaze back to Lyr, his eyes dark. Lyrith struggled vainly as the darkness seeped up over his body, staining his white scales black. Lyr froze as the darkness flooded over his heart, his red eyes flying wide as a cool relief filled him, a sensation almost akin to pleasure. The Darkened white let out a low moan of satisfaction, his glowing eyes closing as his entire body relaxed.

The half-breed sneered, watching as the last of the white scales were swallowed up by the darkness. Jaxar flicked his wrist, grabbing the thin thread connecting him to Lyrith. The sorcerer started to turn away, huffing.

"About time." Jaxar growled, snarling. "Though I would have rather he had come quietly. He's almost more trouble than he's worth."

Lyrith gazed around blankly, his glowing eyes distant. He blinked sluggishly as he was tugged along by Jaxar, wondering at how slowly the world moved about him.

"Coooommmme nnnnooow Lllyyrithhh," Jaxar said, his voice dragging along with agonizing slowness. "wweeee haaave plllaaacess tooo beee..."

_"Is this what being under Convexity's control is like?"_ Lyrith wondered, a small smile creeping over his blackened face. _"It... it feels so __**good**__. I've never been so relaxed in my life. I don't feel anything anymore; what a relief."_

Lyrith shut his eyes once more, letting himself sink deeper into the emptiness, to wallow about in the almost pleasurable relief he felt. Then he frowned, realizing that he _did_ feel something. Something so deep down he had never noticed it before. His frown deepening, he delved even further down, searching for whatever had caught his attention. After what seemed like moments _(or was it eons?)_ Lyrith found what he sought. Nestled deep down in his chest was a gaping crack in his heart. Lyrith gazed at it with curiosity, wondering at how he had never noticed it before.

The white dragon floated closer, the darkness pressing down around him as he approached. It was then that he noticed that the shadows around it seemed to writhe around the crack, as if trying to fight something. Lyrith peered into the crack, trying to see what the shadows were fighting and cocked his head when he noticed pinpoints of light slowly being swallowed up by the darkness. Curious, Lyrith reached out to the light, and touched it. The white dragon cried out as the light seared into his flesh, sending jolts of nauseating agony sweeping through him. The white dragon quickly retreated away from the crack, glaring at it as he nursed his numbed paw. Lyrith huffed, and considered how he had gotten into this dark abyss, watching the shadows eat away at the light.

_"I guess I'm in my subconscious or something."_ Lyrith thought, pondering his predicament. _"Does that mean I'm unconscious? Or have I completely lost control of my body?"_

Lyrith groaned again, a shiver of pleasure flowing up through him as the pinpoints of light were snuffed out one by one. With each one that vanished, Lyrith felt himself grow more and more relaxed. Lyr returned his attention to the crack as the last of the lights were flushed out, letting the shadows flow into the crack, to slowly fill it up.

_"I wonder what the crack is though? Has that always been there? Why was it full of light? Why did the light hurt me?"_

The shadows filled up the crack and then flowed away, leaving Lyr's heart complete once more. Lyrith frowned yet again, noticing an odd pressure suddenly building up in him.

_"What... what is that?"_ Lyrith mused, glancing around the darkness. _"What is going on!?"_ Suddenly, the darkness no longer felt safe and comforting. The dispassionate feelings suddenly felt wrong, like a heavy unseen weight pressing down on his chest. Lyrith opened his muzzle to cry out as something clawed at his torso, trying to force its way out, but found that nothing came out. Lyrith writhed, clutching at his chest as the throbbing pain continued, growing more powerful by the second.

Finally, unable to hold it back anymore, Lyrith threw back his head and howled. A great vacuum of pressure surged into his now healed heart, blasting past Lyrith and swallowing him, dragging him screaming into its depths.

Jaxar had only taken three steps when the connection between him and Lyrith snapped, cut off by a strange surge. The sorcerer whirled around to face Lyrith and jerked back, shocked by what he saw. The darkness covering the white dragon cracked and split, breaking away as if being eaten away from the inside. Bits and pieces of the shadow fell away to dissipate into nothingness.

Within moments the darkness shattered, revealing a dim, eerie light shining off of Lyr. Jaxar took a step back, mouth falling open as small, wispy tendrils of light formed on the glowing scales, to wriggle about in the air as if seeking something intangible. Lyrith let out a low moan and opened his eyes, revealing them to be two empty voids of blackness. He stared around him for a moment, gazing at Jaxar uncomprehendingly.

Jaxar blinked, rendered dumbstruck by what had happened. Then a glower crossed his face and he raised the ring again.

"Whatever you're doing, it isn't going to work. Nothing you do will stop me now."

A lash of darkness struck Lyrith, tethering him to the ring again, only for the thread of blackness to dissipate once more. The tendrils of light wriggled almost delightedly as the darkness vanished as if feeding off of the failed magical energy. Lyr blinked again, his empty black eyes suddenly focusing. A snarl crossed his muzzle, and he crouched down, his gaze fixing on Jaxar.

The sorcerer huffed. "So be it. Unconscious it is."

The half-breed lifted his hand, fire flickering in his hand, only to dive to the side as Lyrith lunged at him, the white's jaws snapping shut where his neck had been moments before. Jaxar landed and rolled to his feet, whipping around and slamming his staff against the glowing Albino, sending Lyrith staggering backwards. The sorcerer followed up the blast with a bolt of fire, aiming for the side of Lyrith's face.

Lyrith hissed as the bolt flashed towards him and simply stepped into it, not even attempting to dodge. The fire dissipated, the flames abruptly fading away mere inches away from Lyr's glowing hide. Jaxar was so stunned at what had just happened that he couldn't react in time to avoid Lyrith's paw swipe. Jaxar's head was jerked to the side, sending him sprawling. The shadowy armour that had formed around Jaxar melted away at Lyrith's touch, leaving a pawshaped hole in the shadows across Jaxar's cheek.

Snapping back to reality, Jaxar swept his staff under Lyrith's paws, knocking his paws out from under him. Moving quickly, Jaxar jumped back onto his paws and stumbled back several steps, to regain ground. He raised a paw to his face, touching the exposed skin in the gap of his armour. Hissing Jaxar reformed the shadows of his helm, covering it back up once more.

_"What just happened?"_ Jaxar thought desperately as Lyrith flipped back onto his paws, completely unphased by the blow. _"How has he shrugged off not only my control, but also a raw bolt of fire...? And what is that light surrounding him? I've never seen anything like it before..."_

Lyrith turned his empty eyes to Jaxar and snarled gutturally, raw, feral fury filling his expression. He stalked towards Jaxar, his body low to the ground. Taking another step backwards, Jaxar spat out a bolt of lightning towards Lyrith, tentatively testing out Lyrith's new abilities. The bolt arced at Lyrith, only to sputter into nothingness as it neared him, never even touching his scales.

_"Is he an anti-magic dragon, like Ramolous?"_ Jaxar wondered as he fended off Lyrith with his staff, the wheels turning rapidly in his mind. _"No... if he was anti-magic, he wouldn't even be letting me use magic at all, let alone dispelling it before it gets close to him... If that's the case..."_

Jaxar swatted Lyrith away with a swing of his staff, just barely keeping him at bay, and then leapt back, his back still turned to the exit. Jaxar exhaled sharply and blasted the ground with a sheet of liquid ice. Lyrith charged forward, only to find the ground frozen into a smooth pane of ice. Feeling his paws slipping under him, Lyrith gripped his claws into the ice to steady himself, rooting his body in place.

Grinning in triumph, Jaxar stepped forward and slammed Lyrith across the face with his staff, his limbs glowing green as he empowered his body with earth magic. Lyrith was hurled across the tent, to slam into an upturned cot. Lyrith groaned as he lay amongst the wreckage of the now splintered bed, the left side of his face a bloody mess from where Jaxar had struck him. The sorcerer chuckled and moved forward, raising his staff again to finish the fight.

Lyrith caught the end of the staff as it swung down towards him, stopping it in mid swing. Jaxar's red-orange eyes flew wide as Lyrith rose to his paws, staring at the white's face as it knit itself back together, his cracked jaw and bloodied face mending itself almost instantly.

Recovering quickly, Jaxar yanked his staff back and lashed out with his leg, kicking Lyrith across the face. The sorcerer followed the blow up with a stab of his barbed tail, grimacing as he felt the shadows covering his body being unraveled with each strike. Lyrith took each of these hits with barely a bat of an eye, any injuries they inflicted upon him vanishing almost seconds later.

_"Definitely __**not**__ an Anti-magic dragon."_ Jaxar hissed to himself as he retreated once more, brandishing his staff at Lyrith.

Lyrith lunged forward once more, with no regard to his own safety. Jaxar swung his staff, but Lyrith simply jumped it. The white dragon collided with Jaxar, knocking the half-dragon to the ground. Lyr batted the staff out of Jaxar's hands with a single paw swipe, then snapped his jaws down towards Jaxar's neck, the shadow armour vanishing at his touch.

Desperately, Jaxar threw his arm up, catching Lyrith's jaws with his forearm. The sorcerer sneered as Lyr's fangs sunk into his flesh and with his other hand he reached up and grabbed the Albino by the neck.

Grinning maniacally, Jaxar held Lyrith firm against him, managing to curl up his legs under the struggling white. Giving Lyr a hard shove, Jaxar kicked him off, hurling him across the room. Jaxar stumbled to his feet, his shadow armour in tatters from where the light-tendrils had torn it apart.

Jaxar inhaled and blasted a bolt of green magic at the frozen soil beside the rising Lyrith, shattering the ground and sending shards of frozen earth slashing into Lyr's hide. Lyrith hissed, flinching as the shards cut into him. The action gave Jaxar enough time to carve a rune into the air and slam it into the ground. The ground beneath Lyrith erupted upwards as a massive column of molten flame consumed the white dragon, burning a hole through the roof.

Jaxar huffed, satisfied that he had dealt with Lyrith once and for all.

"I just hope I didn't kill him." Jaxar murmured, leaning down to pick up his staff from the ground. "It would be a shame to see him die after all I've done to..."

Lyrith burst from the smoking crater, completely unharmed. The white dragon roared as he hurled himself at Jaxar once more, claws outstretched. The sorcerer saw him coming too late, the white dragon clawing him across the face with a powerful slash of his claws. Snarling in frustration, Jaxar raised his staff and knocked him away once more, his eyes blazing in fury.

"STAY DOWN!" He roared, thrusting his fist forward towards the stunned white. A flash of purple light burst out of his hand, striking Lyrith square in the side. The blast of convexity held for a moment against some invisible barrier and then broke through, hurling Lyrith backwards and swallowing the glowing white with purple light. Lyrith was carried out through the tent, the bolt of purple energy tearing through the canvas like paper. Seconds later the blast ended, leaving Lyrith laying still, smoking on the ground. The strange light was gone, leaving only plain, slightly charred snow white scales behind.

Jaxar groaned and leaned heavily against his staff, panting hard as he tried to regain his breath. He shut his eyes as he heard the cries of shock outside, the wards of silence having been broken. Jaxar opened his eyes once more, to find several soldiers rushing to Lyrith's aid and into the tent. They howled their outrage at the sight of the carnage inside.

The sorcerer groaned as they charged him and he tiredly waved a hand in their direction. The soldiers abruptly burst into flames, much to their shock. Jaxar looked past them as they fell to the ground, desperately rolling around in an attempt to put out the flames, to gaze at where Lyrith lay. He let out a weary sigh as he saw troops of soldiers and the large, navy blue Aquina moving towards the tent and white dragon, hurriedly investigating what was happening.

Despondently, Jaxar raised a shaky hand and started tracing a doorway in the air, his eyes still fixed on the unconscious white.

"Damn. Everything has gone horribly, horribly wrong." Jaxar sighed, shaking his head as he opened the doorway to a distant plain, far away from the jungle. "And I was so close too... Oh well, I can start again fresh. It's not like this was a complete failure after all..." Jaxar cast one final glance towards Lyrith as he stepped through the gate, ignoring the charging guards racing after him. The portal snapped shut behind him, leaving nothing but a scorched patch of earth behind.

_"He will come to us soon enough..."_

The soldiers ground to a halt, spitting their frustration at the cowardice of the sorcerer. Aquina stepped into the tent, her normally stiff, emotionless expression horrified at the sight of the charred remains and splattered gore scattered around the tent. Aquina shook her head sadly, a few tears trickling down her face. A low groan caught her attention and she turned to face Lyrith, who was being propped up by two mole squires. He blinked and looked around blearily, his red eyes barely focused.

"What happened here?" Aquina asked him, her voice quiet as she plopped down beside him.

Lyrith gazed up at her, shaking his head to clear it of his confused fog. "I... I have no idea."

* * *

Kaiser let out a long sigh as he overlooked the devastated city of Grasbronda. The entire lower half of the once mighty city was in tatters, with whole blocks of buildings in ruins from where the fighting had been most intense. The entire upper half was still empty of life, the people still unwilling to leave the safety of their shelters, even though the war had finally come to an end.

_"This war had done so much more damage than what it has caused to my city."_ Kaiser thought to himself, sighing. _"It had been so short, but so harmful to the relationship we had been trying to build. Did Ramolous even consider that when he took up his crusade?"_

"I am glad that it was not you behind this insurrection, Kaiser." A deep, resonant voice spoke up from behind the feran king. "It would have been a great loss to have to put you down."

Kaiser turned away from the balcony of his palace to face Pyron as the dragon king entered the overlook, nodding.

"I am glad you think so highly of me. I'm afraid I no longer have the confidence in myself to agree with it, however."

"I can sympathize." Pyron rumbled, moving to stand beside Kaiser. The massive black horned red dragon looked down upon the ruined slums at the celebrating army below. "Not long ago, just before this entire debacle started, one of my sons betrayed my trust as well. He did something unforgivable and I was forced to expel him from my realm."

"Is that so?" Kaiser murmured, shaking his head slowly. "What times have we come to then, that sons betray fathers so readily and bloody wars can be started over a horrible misunderstanding?"

"I know not, but I know it was not the age of peace and prosperity that we had all wished for." Pyron sighed, shutting his golden eyes sadly. "Still, I at least have two sons left to me. You have no such heir now. It must be agonizing."

Kaiser turned his gaze away, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. "It is. Ramolous was only ten years old when Malefor butchered Lanirius. She... she was carrying our next... We loved her so much, and we were heartbroken when she was taken from us. Ramolous was so attached to her, and to see her taken right before his eyes broke him. He was so innocent once, so naive that he was a relief to be around. I knew it had hurt him deeply, but if I had known..."

Pyron sighed and opened his muzzle to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the Guardians and the other kings entering the room.

"Your graces." Terrador murmured, giving the two kings stiff, but respectful bows. "I see you have started discussion without us."

"Somewhat." Kaiser admitted, shrugging, his mournful expression gone. "We were simply exchanging pleasantries. May I inquire of the state of my son's... Ramolous's trial?"

"Unfortunately we have had somewhat of a setback." Cyril responded, huffing.

"What do you mean?"

"Ramolous has been stricken with a strange illness and is wasting away from the inside."

Kaiser frowned at this, startled. "I assure you that none of the arrows were poisoned. Could it have been..."

"It is not an infection." Aquina stated from the behind the Guardians, now stepping to the forefront. "I have checked him over myself and all his wounds were clean. One of the arrows collapsed a lung, which is a severe problem itself, but is not the cause of the illness."

"Than what is it?"

"I cannot say. It is not any kind of poison, as you said, nor is it some disease. My best guess is whatever power he had taken into himself to gain his anti-magic powers is slowly destroying him from the inside. The collapsed lung is not helping matters."

"I see..."

"Yes. Now we have no choice but to speed up the trial period." Prowlus snorted, shaking his head irritably. "The worst case scenario now is that we will have to simply execute him and forgo a proper trial, which would not improve our standing any more than invading has."

"If that happens, you can be assured I will back you entirely." Kaiser said, sighing. "I may not know all the details of his plan, but I believe I understand the basics of it." Kaiser turned to Aquina. "Thank you for telling me all of this. Speaking of which, I heard that one of your clinics was attacked during the final ambush. You have my sincerest condolences."

"You heard right." Aquina replied tersely, nodding her thanks. "The sorcerer Jaxar went their personally and slaughtered all the occupants of the tent except one. The young Albino Lyrith, a student of ours."

"Lyrith?" Pyron rumbled, frowning. "Isn't that the Albino that the sorcerer captured, and you made such a fuss about recovering, Inferna?"

"Yeah, he is." Inferna replied, glancing over to Pyron as they all gathered around the observatory platform. "He's also the one that exposed your son's crimes, as it happens. Apparently the magician wanted Lyr enough to make an attempt at recapturing him. He fled before we could arrest him, unfortunately." Inferna gave a short snarl of frustration. "That damn wizard has caused us all so many problems during these past few weeks."

"I see..." Pyron murmured, his expression darkening slightly. He dropped the subject.

"Jaxar had taken an interest in an Albino?" Kaiser said, his eyes suddenly sparking with interest at this new knowledge. "That is... odd to say the least."

"I would have to agree with you, King Kaiser." Cyril declared, shaking his head. "Lyrith is an intelligent dragon, and an excellent student, but none of us can fathom why the wizard has such an intense interest in the boy."

"Oddly enough I am not surprised." Kaiser continued on, grimacing. "Jaxar has always done things in the most illogical way possible. How he came into my son's service is a prime example of that."

"Oh?" Inferna replied, intrigued.

Kaiser spat, huffing. "That damned sorcerer climbed up the walls of my palace in the middle of the night, broke into Ramolous's room and shook him awake. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to convince Ramolous to not only refrain from calling the guards, but also grant him a position as his advisor. I should have executed him on the spot, but I found his nerve thoroughly amusing, if startling at the time. What a fool I was."

"The past cannot be changed, unfortunately." Prowlus huffed, grimacing. "Now then, if we are all done bantering, can we **finally** get back to business. We have a war to wrap up, a trial to organize and a treaty to rewrite. We do not have time for idle chatter."

"Ach, be silent yah mangy fur ball!" Diatrax chuckled, giving Prowlus a wicked look. "N't everybody has to be getten right to do'n things. Though I would like to g't all this finished soon. I'm achin to be 'eadin 'ome."

Prowlus gave Diatrax a filthy look, which in turn received a broad grin from the greying one eyed wolf.

"Alright then, since everyone is so eager to get started," Pyron rumbled, glancing around the room, "we might as well begin. First, it appears we are missing one Guardian, the Guardian of Wind and Shadow."

"Cynder is with Spyro." Terrador answered, speaking up on behalf of the black dragoness. "As you know, he was severely injured during the fight against Ramolous. There was also an incident with her son during the surprise attack and she wishes to stay behind to watch over them and the other students."

Pyron nodded his understanding, and then moved on.

"What shall we cover first? The treaty, or the trial?"

"The only request I have involving the trial, is that it takes place here, where all ferans might know of Ramolous's treachery." Kaiser said, sighing deeply. "All else I will leave to you."

"Zan Zat pretty much covers zeh trial, no?" Albiard coughed, speaking for the first time since the gathering. "I suggest zat we have zeh trial in two days, in zeh traditional style for zis sort of zing. Treason of ze highest degree, murder and zeh lot. We should get zis done as quickly as possible."

"Aye," Diatrax cried, raising a filled flask of mead he had produced out of his robe, "and we should give our good friends the ferans a chance to question him too, eh? Don't want them getten the wrong idea and all."

"Then it is settled." Pyron murmured, nodding to each figure around the table. "Does anyone need to have a detailed recap of the original treaty we had agreed to?"

Everyone at the table glanced at each other and shrugged.

"I do not believe that is necessary," Cyrine chirped, ruffling his feathers,"we are all familiar with the agreements."

"Aye," Diatrax grunted, nodding. "Access to resources, control of lands, new members of the council, a Feran Guardian trainee. Noth'n else needs to be said."

"It is." Inferna replied, smiling. "I personally think that the treaty should remain as it stands; it was, after all, the actions of a rogue right?"

"There isn't much point to this meeting then, if nothing is changed." Pyron grumbled, shaking his head.

"One could argue that the point of this meeting is to confirm that nothing **has** changed." Cyril prompted, shrugging. "Of course, I do not entirely agree that everything should remain as it was. This war wasn't exactly for nothing now was it?"

"True." Pyron muttered, frowning. "What to do then?"

"If I may speak?" Kaiser said tentatively from where he sat. "I would insist that a good portion of the initial resources, supplied by this contract go to fixing the Temple. I would also insist that whatever is left over be used to help compensate those who have lost loved ones during this war. I would not feel right if I did not do something to aid in the renewal of what my son destroyed."

"That sounds fair." Inferna retorted, glancing around the table. "Using the initial payments to repair the damages between our nations sounds like an excellent change. It would aid us and help re-establish the ferans and panthers as allies, instead of an enemy."

"If you wished to take this further," Terrador grumbled, turning his gaze on Kaiser, "you could supply a work force as well to help do the rebuilding, further reinforcing such an idea in our people's minds."

Kaiser nodded in agreement. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

"All in favour of this change, say aye." Cyrine cawed, turning his avian eyes around the table, examining everyone's faces.

"Aye." Sounded everyone in unison.

"Motion carried." Cyrine declared, tapping a claw on the table. "Shall we discuss the details?"

Inferna groaned as everyone around her murmured in agreement, the Fire Guardian covering her face with her paw. "Does it ever end?"

"What are you talking about Inferna?" Cyril chuckled teasingly, leaning in so he could whisper to her. "It's only just begun. We have hours left of discussing to do."

"Go bite a frogweed's gas bladder." Inferna muttered, letting out a weary sigh.

"Don't be like that," Cyril snickered, "it is unbecoming of a Guardian. Clearly your ancestors were born of lesser stuff, if you can't even last ten minutes at the conference table."

"When I get out of here, you'll find that your '**superior** **ancestors'** won't be much protection from a toasted rump." Inferna muttered under her breath, glowering.

"I don't have much to worry about then, do I?" Cyril chuckled, turning back to the debate. "because you need to be awake to do that, which is highly unlikely given your record."

Inferna grumbled indignantly under her breath, slumping in her seat as Cyril resumed his place in the conversation, her pointed insults falling on deaf ears. After a few seconds Inferna sighed.

"I wish I had a drink. At least then this snore fest might get a little interesting..."

* * *

Lyrith groaned, his red eyes squeezed tightly shut as he let the physicians look over his body. The white drake hissed angrily as they pried one of his clenched limbs down from where they were curled up against his body into a more natural position. The physician, Tirren, Sleet, Voltlyn, Typhous and Savron all flinched at the sound of creaking tendons. The medical canine stopped, frowning.

"That didn't sound good." The wolf murmured, frowning. "I've never seen cramps this bad before."

Lyrith merely whimpered in response, his jaw locked up too tightly to speak.

"I'll have to give you another, smaller dose of the antidote we gave you for the poison. That should help with the muscle seizure, though I doubt it will help with the pain. Whatever kind damage you're muscles have suffered must be severe, and will take a great deal of time to heal."

"I guess Life Crystals aren't going to be much of use for that, huh?" Sleet asked, grimacing.

The cheetah fluffing Lyr's pillows huffed. "Life crystals are only good for more direct injuries, such as cuts or bruises. Torn muscles this bad are too extensive for Life crystals to heal effectively. If used for these kinds of injuries it has a tendency to knit the tissue together wrong, which can cause all sorts of problems. It is safer to simply let it heal naturally."

"Oh... that makes sense." Tirren replied, nodding.

"Yeah, though a simple yes or no would have done the trick." Savron said under his breath, rolling his eyes as he shifted on his seat beside Igneous's cot.

The cheetah noticed his muttering but ignored the purple drake. She finished plumping up the pillows and placed them carefully under the white dragon's limbs, propping his head up. The wolf poured out a half spoonful of the medicine and prised Lyr's muzzle open to pour it in. Lyrith choked a moment before managing to swallow, the Albino grimacing at the foul taste. With that done, the physicians turned and walked back to Igneous's bed to tend to the unconscious red dragon.

Savron shuffled to the side to give the wolf nurse space to rebind the bandages. Igneous groaned fitfully, twisting slightly as the nurse put pressure on his wound while she re-bandaged him.

"Seems he has a fever." The wolf muttered to herself, clucking her tongue. "I hope it's not getting infected. I should get the antibiotics just in case."

Cynder huffed from off to the side, shaking her head. "This is why we tried to get you to stay home, we didn't want you to get hurt."

"It's not like we sought out this fight, mom." Savron replied, glancing up at Cynder.

"I know, you told me." The black dragoness said, nodding. "Still, this could have been easily avoided if you had simply stayed at the Temple. Speaking of which..." Cynder rose from beside Spyro's bed, and turned to face Lyrith. "I think it's time Lyrith caught up on the lecture I gave all of you."

The gang snickered as Lyrith's eyes flew wide, the white shrinking as Cynder glowered down at him.

"What in the ancestor's name were you thinking, coming all the way out here with that idiot son of mine!?" The black dragoness began, ignoring Savron's protests. "Did you not hear the order we gave all of you? None of you were to come, period!"

Lyrith let out a groan, shutting his eyes in a vain attempt to in some part escape the lecture. Smirking slightly, Savron and the gang shuffled over to Spyro's bed, feeling some sense of relief at the familiar sight of Cynder ranting.

Savron glanced over at his father, his smile fading.

"What happened dad?" The young purple asked, concerned.

"I don't **care** that you had all come to warn us about an ambush, you directly violated an order aimed at protecting all of your lives! In some places such disobedience could get you expelled or worse!"

Spyro cracked open an eye to peer through the bandages at his son, a small smile breaking over his muzzle.

"Let's just say that my ass has never been handed to me so quickly or in such a hopeless fashion before. I'm lucky to have survived."

"And while I'm grateful that you only came because you wanted to protect my son, you still won't be able to expect any less than **four** monthsdetention for coming here, if you are **lucky**."

"Still master Spyro, I can't believe this happened to you." Tirren replied, shaking her head. "How did Ramolous manage to get the upper paw?"

"He had some sort of Anti-magic powers that rendered our magic completely useless." Spyro retorted, shrugging. He winced as he moved his injured shoulders. "I don't know how he got it, but since he managed to retain his own magic, we were barely able to keep ourselves alive."

"Anti-magic?" Sleet murmured to himself, frowning. "How did he manage to procure that and still use his own powers? Anti-magic is a phenomenon that occurs as pockets in areas of deprived of magic. It isn't something that can be harnessed, as it is a vacuum and not a force of its..."

"Regardless," Spyro said, interrupting Sleet before he could start a long winded explanation, "he was somehow able to nullify our powers. I doubt he would tell us if he asked anyways, considering his attitude towards us."

Cynder finally finished her rant at Lyrith and turned back to her mate, her son and the students. She cleared her throat, having strained it while shouting at the helpless Albino.

"Now then, I think it is time that we sent you back to the Temple." She said gruffly, glaring down at the young dragons. "I don't know why I let you stay here as long as you did, considering how much trouble all of you manage to get yourselves into. You will be far safer at the Temple, under Volteer's supervision than you will be lying around here as we've clearly seen."

Everyone nodded meekly, heads bowed low to the ground. Seeing that they would raise no opposition, Cynder huffed in satisfaction.

"Good. You will leave tomorrow. I suspect Inferna will be the one taking you back home. She's been getting rather twitchy as of late."

"Will you be staying here, mom?" Savron asked, glancing over at the black dragoness.

Cynder nodded, sighing. "Unfortunately yes, as a Guardian I have to oversee the Ramolous's trial, as well as any further negotiations. I'd really rather be heading back home with you, but it's my job."

"Oh, alright." Savron replied, shrugging. "I guess I was hoping you'd come along to help teach me to control my dark side."

Everyone in the room except Lyrith, who was currently incapable of movement, raised an eye ridge at Savron's comment. Even Savron seemed slightly surprised at his comment.

"You **want** to go to lessons?" Cynder asked, as if unsure she had heard her son correctly.

"It's the first sign of the apocalypse!" Tirren cried, throwing her paws into the air. "Everyone watch out! Meatloaf should start falling from the sky at any moment!"

Everyone around the young purple burst into laughter.

Savron glared at the pair, his face twisted up into a fierce scowl. "You don't have to be so sarcastic about it! Ancestors you can be insufferable sometimes Tirren. I'm starting to wonder what I ever saw in you."

"So it's finally working?" Tirren asked, grinning. "All that time bugging you hasn't been in vain! Thank the ancestors!"

Savron sighed and shook his head, giving up. The others snickered as he walked despondently over to an empty cushion and slumped down in it. While the others were busy teasing Savron, Voltlyn had moved to stand beside Lyr's bedside, and glanced over at the white drake worriedly.

Lyrith was finally starting to relax, the medicine easing his cramped muscles. After several minutes, Lyrith was able to sit at ease, no longer twisted up into a cramped ball on the bed. Voltlyn examined his features and frowned when she noticed a strained expression creasing his face as he gazed out the tent flap to the ruins of the other clinic.

"What's wrong?" Voltlyn asked, concerned. Lyrith hesitated a long moment, his jaw working as the medicine continued to do its work.

"It's..." Lyr started, not sure how to voice what he was thinking. "It's just that... I'm at fault for what happened in that tent."

"Huh?" Voltlyn murmured, puzzled.

"If I hadn't been there, if I had gone with that monster, all those people might have lived to see another day." Lyrith sighed, laying his head back on the pillow. He closed his eyes tiredly.

"But it's not your fault," Voltlyn responded, shaking her head. She placed a paw on Lyrith's and was both relieved and slightly surprised when he did not withdraw his paw. "He was the one who killed them. You... you were forced into that position and had no control over what he did."

"I know." Lyrith said, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "Even still, it was because of my stupid plan that they got killed. I panicked and made a terrible decision, and it's because of that that they aren't alive right now."

Voltlyn tried to think of something to say that would give Lyr some peace of mind, but could think of nothing.

"Even though I'm not directly responsible for their deaths, it still is at least somewhat my fault for how things turned out." Lyrith murmured, letting out a short sigh. Then a half smile half grimace broke over his face and he snorted derisively. "I'm so useless. This is twice now in I've ended up paralyzed in the clinic after being saved from that monster. Some help I turned out to be. I'm more of a burden than ever before."

"Don't think of yourself like that." Voltlyn murmured, shaking her head. "You're... you're not useless."

Lyr cracked open an eye and stared at Voltlyn. "Oh really? Then tell me something I've done that was actually useful during this venture?"

Voltlyn opened her muzzle to speak, but hesitated, trying to think of something. Before she could reply, Lyrith cut her off.

"You know what **I** remember about this venture? Getting saved, a lot. First time from that horrible monster in the jungle, then when I was trapped in the catacombs in the mountains and then after **that** you saved me from Jaxar. I've been so fucking useful during this adventure."

"You saved me." Sleet replied, having stopped to listen in on the pair's conversation. "Remember? You and Voltlyn rushed in and tore apart those Wyvern's when they were attacking me. If it hadn't been for you I would have been a goner."

Lyrith paused. "Huh, yeah, I guess we did do that."

"You also caught us that deer that one night." Savron spoke up from his cushion. "That was pretty tasty."

Lyrith laughed. "So my usefulness count has come up to saving Sleet and catching a deer. The first, fine, but the second doesn't really count against being saved three times."

"You really should stop being so down on yourself, Lyr." Danrah chirped from the back of the group, all of which had turned to listen in. "You just had a really bad run of luck. It could have happened to anyone."

"But I'm not really." The Albino chuckled, shaking his head. "To be honest I'm oddly fine with it. It's almost refreshing to be the damsel in distress for once. Almost makes me feel important, what with everyone rushing in to save my life."

"You sure do look the part, Lyr." Savron snickered, giving the white a sly wink. "You just need to wear a pink dress and let us call you princess. Then you can be a real damsel."

Lyrith gave Savron a savage smirk. "I'm glad you caught the joke, Sav. Though I'm afraid my fist didn't really catch it. Could you come a little closer and repeat it?"

Savron quickly backed down, still chuckling. The others snickered as well, enjoying the show.

"It's nice to see them all getting along as if nothing's happened." Spyro murmured to Cynder as they watched the student's chat and laugh.

"I feel really old for saying this, but it's a miracle of youth." Cynder chuckled, shaking her head. "To be able to shrug off all these horrors with such ease must be such a relief."

"You're not old!" Spyro snickered. "Heck, we're barely adults!"

Cynder smirked. "Oh hush you old geezer and get some sleep. You'll have a long trip tomorrow, since you'll be going with them. You're no use to us here, so you might as well tag along."

"Do I have to?" Spyro whined jokingly, giving the black dragoness a sly wink.

"Yes, you do. Do you want me to **make** you go?"

"Try me."

"Oh you're going to regret saying that."

**Characters Created by Dardarax**

Lyrith, Savron, Igneous, Voltlyn, Danrah, Sleet, Vash, Typhous, Tirren.

Inferna, Diatrax, Cyrine, Albiard, Pyron, Kaiser.

Ramolous, Jaxar, Travix.

This had to be the hardest chapter I've ever released so far. Not because it was hard to write or anything (Though it did take me forever to do), but because of how much this chapter changes the story as a whole. Chapter 26 and 30 were incredibly important because of how much information they gave you, but they don't really change all that much. This chapter however, does, and I'm sure you can see how. I'm really going to miss that aspect of the story, but it has to happen if it is going to advance. Goodbye, Lyr the Albino. I will miss you. ;_;


	33. Settling Down

Chapter 33. Settling down

By: Dardarax

_Disclaimer: I, Dardarax, do **not** own Spyro, Cynder, the Temple or any other place or character belonging to the Spyro franchise. I do, however, love socks and the mashed potatoes that are made using socks. Mmm... sock potatoes. A number somewhere between 1 and 30 of my characters are featured in this chapter. Their names are listed at the bottom. _

The sun shone, soft and warm down upon the Temple, bathing the recovering school in its comforting embrace. Bright, colourful birds sang a merry chorus as they flitted about outside, reveling in the perfect cloudless summer day.

Savron sat beside the window, watching mournfully as the drakes outside relaxed, enjoying themselves while he was stuck inside, sulking. The other members of his adventuring party sat scattered around the room in solemn silence, watching the sand slowly dribble down in the clock.

Aideen, the plump fire dragon magic teacher sat idly at her desk, reading a thick dusty tome. She occasionally glanced up to make sure everyone was there, but for the most part spent her time flipping through the pages of her text. Finally, when the oppressively silent atmosphere was almost too much to handle, the sand ran out and the next hourglass on the clock flipped over with an audible 'click'.

Everyone let out a great sigh of relief and glanced down to Aideen to see if it really was time for them to go. The teacher closed her book and glanced up at the clock. She nodded.

"Well, it appearth that your detenthion is up. You may go for thupper, but remember to check in withh Stherion for choresth after you're done."

Everyone whooped and jumped to their paws, rushing to the door. Savron made it there first and threw open the door, scampering out into the empty hallway. Sleet, Danrah, Vash, Voltlyn and Lyrith followed him out, with Tirren and Igneous taking up the rear, the green dragoness supporting the limping red.

"FREEEDOOOM!" Savron shouted, dancing down the hallway delightedly. "I thought we'd never get out of there!"

"We're only off for lunch, Sav." Sleet called down after Savron as the purple pranced away. "It's not like we're free just yet."

"I know, but can't I enjoy what I have right now?" Savron asked, glancing back at the others as they followed along slowly behind him.

"We just want to make sure you won't be running out on us, Sav." Tirren called from the back of the group. "Last time when you 'forgot' to show up for chores, we all had to do your share of the work. We've all agreed that the next time you put us through that, we'll make you beg that your mother was here to punish you instead."

Savron gulped, his smile cracking and fading away. "Alright alright! I'll write it on the back of my paw so I don't forget! No need to get violent!"

"It's the only way to get you there, Sav." Igneous chuckled, wheezing as he and Tirren limped along.

Savron huffed and turned, continuing to pad down the hall towards the kitchen. The others all glanced at each other and grinned. They arrived at the kitchen to find it almost completely deserted, most of the other students having already eaten and left. The gang piled up by the nearly empty buffet and started hoarding food onto their plates. Ember emerged, hearing the sound of plates rattling. The pink dragoness gave the gang a winning smile and padded over to stand by Igneous.

"Thanks for leaving this out for us, Ember." Savron said through a mouthful of chicken. "We're starving!"

"You're welcome, Savron." Ember replied, draping a wing over Igneous's shoulders protectively. Igneous glanced up at his mother and smiled at her, before ducking under her wing to go stand beside Tirren. Ember smiled and rolled her eyes, turning away to pad back into the kitchen.

"Hey Sav, what's with the two plates?" Igneous asked as they left the buffet, their plate stacked with food. Savron glanced over to Igneous, standing on his hind legs and balancing two plates on his forepaws.

"Oh, I'm bringing lunch down for Zindy." He replied, giving Igneous a quick smile. "I volunteered to be her usher so that her physician could go on break during lunch." Savron glanced over at Igneous and Tirren, noticing that neither of them were holding any plates. "You two not hungry?" He asked, raising an eye ridge.

Igneous glanced over to Tirren, and then back to Savron. "Actually, Rin and I are going down to the town to eat. She told me about an interesting restaurant and I'd like to try it out."

A stunned silence fell over the group, everyone stopping to stare at the two.

"Oh..." Danrah said, glancing over at the others. "I see. Well have fun you two."

Igneous frowned as they all turned away, noticing odd, sly expressions creasing their faces.

"What was all that about?" He asked, scratching his head in puzzlement. Tirren sidled up to Igneous's side and shrugged, giving him a beaming smile.

"I'm not sure. Anyway, how about we get going? We are on a schedule after all."

"Sure." Igneous grunted, turning away from the others to pad out of the kitchen and back into the hall. "I hope this place is as nice as you say it is. I've always wanted to try spiced goose eggs."

Lyrith smirked as they disappeared from sight, the white dragon noticing a defeated scowl crossing Savron's face. The purple dragon let out a long sigh and turned away from the table, still balancing the two plates on his paws.

"Hey Sav, can I come along?" Sleet asked, picking up his plate from where he had rested it on the table.

"Why not?" Savron shrugged awkwardly, doing his best to keep the plates steady. "I'm sure Zindy would love the extra company."

"Great!" The scrawny blue dragon chirped, stumbling up to stand beside Savorn. "Have a good meal guys, we'll see you later!"

"Bye!" Danrah replied, waving them off. Lyrith watched them go, his red eyes following them right up until they reached the door. Typhous glanced after the pair for a bit and then moved to follow the pair, snagging his plate as well. Once they were gone, he sat down, placing his plate down on the table.

Voltlyn shifted slightly as he took his seat beside her, moving a few inches away from them so that their flanks didn't touch. Lyrith immediately started eating, not even noticing how close they had been together.

Danrah looked between the two of them, a tiny smile quirking her face.

"So, how have you two been?" She asked, leaning forward slightly to examine them closer.

"Alright." Voltlyn murmured, picking through her food delicately, her eyes flickering over to Lyr now and again. The Albino merely grunted in response, barely pausing as he stuffed his muzzle full of food.

"Oh... that's good." Danrah replied, smiling. "Have you been doing anything interesting lately?"

"Well..." Voltlyn started, hesitantly. "Not really..."

"Savron's been working on a big adventure we could all go on once the detention's finally up." Lyrith grunted, lapping at a dollop of jam. "He's been talking to me a lot about it, and's been trying to get me to help with setting it up."

"Oh?" Danrah asked, curiously. "Have you been helping him?"

"On and off. He mostly wants my help in designing contingency plans if things should go awry."

"Where is he planning on going?"

"There's been rumours about a secret passage under one of the statues in the courtyard. Savron said he investigated it and that it seems plausible. He still needs to find it tho..."

Lyrith glanced up and noticed that everyone was staring at his face intently, their faces screwed up in expressions of amusement.

"What?" Lyr asked, frowning deeply. "Is there something wrong with my face?"

"Er..." Danrah began, her paw starting to rise up to her own face.

"Yeah you do." Vash smirked snarkily. His eyes flicked up to Lyr's red eyes. "All of it."

"Vash!" Danrah exclaimed, shocked, turning to face her brother. Lyrith glared at the dream dragon.

"Here, just... just hold still." Voltlyn murmured, grabbing a napkin and bringing it up to Lyrith's face. She quickly wiped away the broad smudge of jam covering his face. Lyrith blinked and Danrah and Vash stopped to stare. It took a few moments for shock to register in Lyrith's mind. He hadn't reacted to the action at all, not even a twitch. Lyr stared at Voltlyn, startled by that revelation, though, oddly, not uncomfortably so.

"Wow," Danrah said, grinning. "you really have tamed the beast, haven't you?"

Voltlyn's face turned beet red. "W-w... what?!" Voltlyn shook her head franticly, eyes wide.

Lyrith glanced between her and Danrah, frowning, not sure what they were getting at. Then he shrugged, put the oddness of the scene aside and finished up his meal in silence. Voltlyn watched him anxiously, her flush slowly fading as his silence wore on.

Then Lyr grunted, turning away and returned to eating, ignoring Danrah's comment. Voltlyn sighed in relief.

"So then..." Danrah began, a little frustrated that nothing had come of the conversation. "How have your classes been?"

"Oh... alright." Voltlyn replied, shrugging noncommittally.

"Good. I've finally caught up with everything I've missed." Lyrith said though a mouthful of chicken. He swallowed before continuing. "Combat has been going smoothly, mathematics is rough but I'm getting the hang of it and the others are hit and miss."

"Well, it's good to see you adapting to everything, Lyr." Danrah replied, smiling. "I hate to ask, but is anyone still..."

"Hm, speaking of which," Lyrith muttered, putting his empty plate down and standing up quickly. "I need to get something from my room. I'll see you at Serion's office."

Before any of them could object, Lyrith turned and padded away, glancing back only once before vanishing from sight.

Voltlyn watched him go, tensing, as if not sure wether or not she wanted to follow him. Then, once he was out of sight, she sagged slightly, sighing. She returned to her meal in silence. Danrah frowned, staring after the white for a long moment.

"I guess I should have kept my muzzle shut." The black dragoness muttered to herself, turning away. "Why can I never leave things well enough alone?"

* * *

"Mm! Wow, thish ish good." Igneous declared through a mouth full of goose egg, giving Tirren a beaming smile.

"I know, right?" Tirren agreed, snickering as she watched Igneous swallow, only to return to scarfing down his food. "One of the best restaurants in town."

"Just as good as that Venison Heaven Place we went to last time." Igneous agreed, sitting back as he sought to catch his breath.

"Mh. If you think that, then you haven't tried the pot roast. It's phenomenal. You'll never go anywhere else ever again."

"Oh, now I wish I ordered that." Igneous replied, glancing down at his spiced goose eggs. Waiters bustled about around the pair, carrying stacked serving trays to and from the many customers lining the dinning hall. Almost nothing could be heard over the clamor of banging dishes and banter between the moles, felines, canines and dragons.

"which," Tirren thought, noting how close it forced her and Igneous to sit together."Isn't so bad."

"Do you think we have time to order another dish?" Igneous asked, glancing over at the waiters as they passed by.

"Probably not." Tirren said, shaking her head. "It's almost time for us to be heading up to the Temple anyway, so we don't have much more time to eat."

Igneous sighed, shrugging. "Alright, I understand." The heavy red dragon returned to his food, quickly finishing up the last of the scraps of goose remaining. Tirren waved one of the waiters over, and collected the bill. The two of them fished out their share of the fee and then stood, turning towards the exit.

"I'd almost forgotten how nice the food was down here." Igneous said as they pushed their way out of the restaurant. "That army food had been starting to grow on me."

"Yeah, I'm glad we can eat something with actual flavour again." Tirren replied, nodding in agreement.

"So... is there anything else you want to do before we head back up to the Temple?" Igneous asked, glancing around as they emerged into the crowded town. Tirren glanced over at Igneous, her expression a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Oh... I don't know," The emerald green dragoness responded, shrugging. "maybe we could go sit over on that hill outside of town? It has a lovely view of the plains to the west."

"Sure." Igneous smiled. "Let's do that."

Tirren beamed. "Excellent! Let's go!"

The green and red dragon strode up along the road, out of town. Together they trudged up the hills, past the train-station until they reached the crest of the tallest hill. Then they sat, and looked over the vastness of the green plains, gazing out towards the blue horizon. The two sat on the top of the hill for a while, simply staring out at the grassy plains. A train slowly chugged its way out of the train-station, and out into the grasslands heading towards Avalar.

"Hey Igneous..." Tirren whispered after a long moment of silence, only to trail off once more.

"Yeah, Tirren?" Igenous replied, looking over to her when she did not continue. "What is it?"

"Have you ever... Have you ever wondered about the future?" The green earth dragoness asked, her horn decorations tinkling as she turned her head away.

"What do you mean?" Igneous asked, frowning. "Like, what we'll do with our lives once we're done studying?"

"Sort of." Tirren said, sighing.

"Well, then what do you mean?" The red dragon questioned, shuffling closer to Tirren. Tirren flushed slightly as he neared.

"Well... I was wondering about... well us."

Igneous blinked in surprise. "Us?"

Tirren flushed, and quickly hid her face behind a wing. "Y... yeah. Us."

Igneous cocked his head in puzzlement, pondering what she meant for a moment. Then he padded over to her and draped a wing over her shoulders. She glanced up at him in amazement.

"Well, to be honest I don't know." Igneous replied, shrugging. "I can't see the future."

"Oh." Tirren said sagging, slightly disappointed by his answer.

"I'd like it if we'd keep going on adventures though." Igneous continued, staring off into the distance. "For us all to just be able to hang out and have fun, no matter where or when. That would be paradise."

Tirren nodded, her gaze still fixed on the ground in front of her paws.

"Though, I'd like it even more if you and I could stay together." Igneous murmured, glancing down at Tirren. Tirren stiffened, startled by the response. She looked up slowly, to gaze into Igneous's eyes. Igneous stared down at her, his expression one of hope and surprise. Even he was startled by his words. Tirren smiled.

"I've love that." She whispered, shifting over so that her flank touched his. He smiled, relief touching his face. The two stared at each other for a minute, gazing into each other's eyes. Then Tirren leaned up, moving to brush her muzzle against his. Igneous, seeing this, leaned down as well, shutting his eyes.

"Hey Rin, Ign... oh..."

Tirren and Igneous flinched at the shout, their eyes snapping shut as they drew away from one another. Burnam landed a few meters away, a guilty and startled expression on his face.

"What is it, Burnam." Tirren sighed, turning to face the red drake.

"Uh... well..." Burnam stammered, coughing anxiously. "The guys want you back up at the Temple. They... uh... they sent me down to go find you... Sorry."

Tirren sighed and glanced back to Igneous, who looked somewhat disappointed.

"Alright, go tell them we'll be up in a minute." Tirren replied, turning her gaze back to Burnam. Burnam nodded emphatically and turned away quickly, moving to take off.

"Alright, uh... I'll go and do that. Have fun... sorry." He apologized as he took off, glancing back at them several more times as he flew away.

Tirren huffed and shook her head.

"He'll gossip to everyone he comes across, won't he?"

"Yep." Igneous replied, stepping up beside Tirren. The big red glanced down at her, smiled and then twined his tail with hers. Tirren started at the bold show of affection, and beamed up at Igneous.

"Let's head back then." Tirren murmured, pressing her shoulder to Igneous's.

"Yeah, let's." Igneous smiled. Then they set off, side by side towards the Temple, tails curled up tightly together.

* * *

"Can't believe they're making us work weekends." Savron muttered to himself as he and Sleet wandered down the empty hallway. Savron's, Sleet's, Typhous' and Zindy's dishes all orbited around Savron and the grey dragon, held aloft by tiny tornados of wind the two conjured. Paintings of former Guardians glared down at the two with almost distasteful expressions, almost as if reproaching the two for their undiciplined use of their power.

Sleet simply shrugged at Savron's complaint. "Well, at least this way we can be finished our punishment a little earlier."

"True," Savron admitted, sighing. "but I would have liked to have a day off now and again."

"Maybe we would if you wouldn't sneak off during chores to plan your next adventure." Typhous retorted, giving Savron a sly grin.

"Hey! That's uncalled for!" Savron exclaimed irritably. "I was just taking a short break, that's all!"

"It is kind of true though, Sav." Sleet replied, frowning. "I mean, you're not exactly making it easier on everyone, including yourself by doing that."

"Whatever." Savron grumbled, shaking his head.

The three arrived at the clinic to find Zindy leaning against Volteer, who guided her slowly about the room. Her steps were tentative and she appeared on the verge of collapse the entire way, but she made it back around the room to her bed without falling. Volteer helped her back up into the bed and carefully laid her down. Savron, Sleet and Typhous all watched, expressions solemn as Volteer leaned down and gripped the hem of the sheet in his jaws and drew it up over Zindy.

"Youarerecovering withremarkablealacrity, Zindy." Volteer remarked softly. "Why, youwillbe upandwalkingby yourselfinnotime."

"Ireallyhopeso." Zindy chattered eagerly. "I'm**so**boredjustsitting hereallday. Justsittingand sittingandsitting ohheyguys!"

"Hello Zindy." Typhous said, smiling as they walked in.

"It's good to see you." Savron agreed, nodding. "We brought you your lunch! Mashed-chicken-biscuts, your favourite!"

Zindy whooped and gazed longingly at the meal as they placed it down, drooling. She dove upon the plate the moment they let go of it, eagerly stuffing her muzzle with food and splattering everyone, Savron, Sleet, Typhous and Volteer with debris. They flinched back as the bits of chicken-biscuit showered them, Savron, Sleet and Typhous grinning at her enthusiasm.

"While your haste is heartwarming, Zindy it would be best if you eat at a more leasurely pace!" Volteer insisted, leaning over and putting a paw on Zindy's shoulder warningly. "We cannot have you choking after all! That would be most dreadful, most hazardous for your condition."

Zindy pouted, but slowed, now merely stuffing a single biscuit into her muzzle at once.

"Much better." Volteer sighed, relieved. He then turned back to Savron. "How have your chores been going, Savron?"

"Alright... I suppose."

"Why, are you discontent Savron?"

"Well, yeah."

"If it helps, we can increase the amount of chores you could be doing..." Volteer suggested, a mischievous twinkle flickering to life in his eyes.

"No!" Savron exclaimed, his emerald eyes flying wide. He waved his forepaws about frantically, trying to dispell the suggestion. "That's not what I meant! I meant that it sucks that we have to do so many chores already!"

"Well, it would not be a fit punishment if you enjoyed it to any degree, Savron." Volteer countered, winking. "Punishment must be punishing, hence the relation between the two words."

"Yeah, I got that." Savron grumbled sourly, scowling. "I'm not stupid."

Sleet, Typhous and Zindy glanced at each other, forcing themselves not to pursue the issue.

"So, how have you been doing, Zindy?" Typhous asked the little yellow dragoness, around a bite of his lunch.

"I'mgreat!" Zindy exclaimed, beaming. "I'msogladyou guysareback! Iwassolonely whenyouguysweregone."

"Sorry, Zindy." Savron sighed, smiling sadly. "I wish we could have taken you with us."

Volteer turned and glared at Savron, his yellow eyes blazing.

"Uh..." Savron stammered, startled. "Well, I mean... um..."

Volteer held the glare for a moment and then turned away once more. Savron let out a relieved groan.

"Well, anyways, it's great to be back." Savron said, sighing. "After all of that, I think I'm starting to see why all of you wanted to keep me here. It wasn't fun at all."

"That is the ultimate understatement." Typhous groaned, rolling his eyes. "Between the battles, the collapsing cave, the tomb of horrors and the giant monster living in the swamp, we got into more trouble than all of your previous adventures combined!"

"Isthatincludingthattimewhere wegotcaughtupinthat pixieninjawar?" Zindy wondered, curious.

"Zindy! You know we can't talk about that!" Savron hissed, his eyes flashing. "You know we were sworn to secrecy!"

"Oh! Right, sorry." Zindy gasped, clamping a paw over her muzzle.

Volteer blinked, glancing between the four of them, bewildered.

"My, it sounds like you went through more than you originally let on. Would you care to elaborate on this facinating adventure you experienced?"

"Yes! Pleasepleaseplease **please**!" Zindy cried, all but bouncing up and down on the bed, her electric blue eyes burning with curiousity.

Savron, Sleet and Typhous looked at each other, and then sighed, shrugging.

"Why not?" Savron said, settling down. He took a few more bites of his lunch, and then cleared his throat. "Well, the first thing we did when we left the Temple was fly across the swamp, but as you know the spores there are..."

* * *

Lyrith let out a long sigh as he padded into his room, the white dragon shutting the door behind him. Yawning, Lyrith shifted over to his desk, stumbling a bit in the darkness. He made it over to his desk, where he turned on the sun-globe sitting upon it. Lyr blinked as the light dazzled him for a moment, the light sharp against the darkness.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Lyrith muttered under his breath as he opened the drawers of his desk, looking for some spare quills. After a short moment, the white dragon noticed a small blood red journal lying at the bottom of the drawer. Frowning, Lyr picked it up and looked it over. Recognition flooded over his face and Lyrith smiled. He put the red book down and flipped it open, examining the sloppy writing filling the first dozen or so pages. He grimaced.

"It's been too long since I've written anything in here." Lyrith huffed, sitting down. "I can barely believe I used to write this badly."

"You're writing could **still** use worlds of improvement." A voice spoke from behind him.

Lyrith yelped and bolted to his paws in startled fright. He whirled around and took a startled step back, his rear bumping into the table as he backed into it. Inferna beamed down at him from where she sat on his bed. The orange and red dragoness was barely visible in the shadows.

Lyr let his breath out in a rush, his heart hammering.

"Do you have to do that every time you want to talk to me?" Lyrith demanded, snorting as he turned back to the journal, which he slammed shut.

"No, but it's plenty of fun." Inferna replied smugly, rising to her paws.

"I suppose you're the one who closed the drapes then." Lyrith grumbled, glancing over to the windows.

"Yep. Didn't want you to see my silhouette."

Lyr simply snorted, rolling his eyes. "Why are you here?" He asked, shoving his journal into the desk and shutting the drawer with deliberate care, not wanting to shut off the sunglobe.

"I needed to talk to you about something." Inferna said, her amusement fading slightly.

"Well hurry up, I need to get back to the others to help them with their chores." Lyrith replied tersely, setting about his room in search of his homework.

Inferna frowned at the coolness of his voice, and sighed. "Right. I forgot about that. Tell your friends that I held you up. I don't want to rush this."

Lyrith's face clouded over, his blood red eyes flickering back over to her. "What is this about?"

"Come with me." Inferna padded past Lyrith to the door and opened it up. She glanced back to the white dragon, and waited for him to follow.

Dubiously Lyrith put down his books and followed after her. Inferna led him silently down the hall, ignoring all his questions, her expression severe, as if worrying over something. Lyrith felt anxiety worming its way into his gut, growing heavier and heavier as they continued on, her silence only worsening the experience.

Finally Inferna stopped and turned to face a nondescript door in a deserted hallway. She knocked once on the door, waited a second and then entered, gesturing for Lyrith to follow her in. Hesitantly he followed, not sure what to expect.

They entered into a clean, if cluttered room, with pieces of metal, armour and tools lying about. The floor was covered in a thick, lush green carpet, and a large stack of pillows lay in one corner of the room. Standing in the center of the chamber was Deran. The thick bodied forge-master gave Inferna a small nod, a tiny nervous smile cracking his face.

"I see you brought him." Deran murmured, shifting over to Inferna to stand with her as she closed the door. Inferna nodded, a smile finally creasing her face.

"I did."

"And why **did** you bring me here?" Lyrith asked, his eyes flickering between the two of them. Deran glanced down to Lyrith, his smile fading.

"She didn't tell you?" Deran asked, an eye-ridge raising.

"I thought we should ask him together." Inferna answered for Lyr, looking her lover in the face.

"Oh, right." Deran replied, glancing over to Inferna sheepishly.

"Ask me about what?" Lyrith demanded, baffled.

"Come sit with us over here." Inferna whispered, gesturing to some cushions laid out by the window. Deran gave Lyrith a reassuring grin as they moved over to the seats, hoping to ease any tension the Albino felt. It only half worked.

Inferna and Deran took their seats across from Lyr, the pairs' tails curling together. Lyrith took his seat uncomfortably, gazing at them with slight suspicion.

"Alright, tell me why you dragged me down here." Lyrith grunted, slouching in his seat.

Deran glanced over at Inferna with a slightly cynical expression, but Inferna ignored Deran. The Guardian of Flames took in a slow, steadying breath and let it out with equal deliberation.

"Lyrith," She started, as if groping for words to express what she was about to say. "Deran and I have been together for a few years now... well, more than just a few years. Nearly a decade really. We're mates in all but name."

Lyrith listened, nodding slowly, still puzzled at what this had to do with him.

"For at least two years now, we've been trying to have a hatchling of our own. But..." Inferna stopped, as if at a loss for what to say next.

"But we've had no luck so far." Deran answered for Inferna, draping a wing over her shoulders. Inferna shuffled a little closer to Deran, so that their flanks touched.

"Yes, exactly." Inferna replied, nodding her head in agreement. "We've been unable to produce one."

"Alright." Lyrith said, staring at the pair of them dubiously.

Inferna sighed again, not sure how to proceed.

"Well, we've been thinking about it for a while and we've both come to a decision."

"And what is that?" Lyrith asked, leaning forward, a frown crossing his face. A nagging sensation bubbled up in the back of Lyr's mind, but he couldn't quite place what it was trying to tell him.

"Do you remember back when I took you in?" Inferna asked, resting her head on Deran's shoulders. "Back before the party?"

The Albino nodded slowly.

"I had to sign papers that transferred guardianship over you from them to me. Now, it's not official or anything, but if you were interested we could maybe make it..."

Deran sighed as Inferna trailed off, unsure as to how she wanted to say what she had on her mind. He said if for her.

"Lyrith, we want to adopt you."

Lyrith's muzzle fell open, stunned by the proposal. This had been the furthest thing from his mind.

Inferna noticed his expression and took it the wrong way.

"I know it's really late in your life, so I understand if you don't want to. You are nearly old enough to go out on your own, so..."

Lyrith stood slowly, still staring at the two, utterly dumbfounded. Inferna gazed at Lyrith apprehensively, not sure what to expect from him. He took a few steps towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. Then, abruptly he embraced her, rushing the last few steps. Inferna and Deran started in surprise, stunned by the unexpected reaction. Then a broad smile crept over Inferna's face and she draped her wings down and around the Albino, returning the embrace. Deran in turn, draped a wing of his own over Inferna's back, drawing them both close. They held the hug for a long moment, before Lyrith broke away, embarrassed by the sudden explosion of emotion he had just displayed.

"I'll take that as a yes." Inferna murmured, giving the white dragon a beaming smile. Lyrith nodded sheepishly.

"In that case we'll arrange for the paperwork to be taken care of." Deran rumbled, giving Lyr a gin and a nod. "By the end of the week, we can officially call ourselves a family."

"But," Inferna said, shifting over to Lyrith and draping a wing over his shoulders. "don't let that stop you from calling us mom and dad, if you want to."

Lyrith smiled, a warm flush filling him. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt that there was nothing wrong with his life. He looked between the two of them, his heart swelling in his chest.

"Of course... mom... dad..."

* * *

The skittering of rats along the cold stone floor was the only thing keeping him from getting any sleep. His _last_ sleep. The only sleep he would be getting before joining the ancestors in whatever paradise or hell they saw fit to give him.

The darkness was oppressive, bearing down on him with the weight of all of his failures. It taunted him, reminding him of the darkness the world would face because of his incompetence. Of the darkness he had failed to destroy.

A fit of coughs wracked Ramolous, leaving him in breathless agony. Groaning, the prince rolled over on his straw mattress, gazing up at the darkened roof of the dungeons. The trial had gone terribly. Everyone had been against him, nobody was willing to listen to his pleas or warnings. They thought of him as insane, driven crazy by some tradgedy that had occured long ago. They had even managed to turn his father, his father against him. Now, with the wasting sickness eating away at him from the inside, Ramolous could barely lift a claw to dispel their foul words before they had everyone in their grasp.

The world was lost.

Nobody was left who could see the truth.

Even Jaxar, his loyal servant had abandoned him.

Ramolous groaned as he forced down another fit of coughs, his dark musings interrupted by the gradual decay of his very life essence. Jaxar had told him what the crystal would do if he had absorbed it. It was supposed to be a last resort, something to be used if there was no other choice. Even that had failed him. Now, what was supposed to be a noble sacrifice had turned into a race against time. A race to see what would get to kill him first. The Guardians, or the anti-magic rotting him away from the inside out. Neither outcome was a pleasant way to go.

The feran took a deep, rattling breath, trying desprately to get enough air into his lungs to relieve him for even a single moment. Just one moment was all he asked for.

"It wasn't supposed to end this way..." Ramolous wheezed, his tongue darting out to lap up the smidgen of blood dripping down from his maw. "I... I was supposed to save everyone. The threat was supposed to be over... they had to die... It isn't fair..."

If only he had the strength to stand, to bring his magic to bear against the foul demons. Maybe then he could find some peace in the afterlife. But it was not meant to be. The ancestors had chosen a different fate for him and for the people of the world. A fate of doom, despair and anguish.

Ramolous was startled out of his morbid thoughts once more by the squealing of rusty door hinges and the patter of pawsteps on the slimy ground. The rogue prince flinched, forced to squint as the light stabbed into his eyes. A thin shadow came to a halt beside the cell, accompanied by two guards. The shadow shooed them away and they left reluctantly. The door creaked shut once again, leaving them in near total darkness.

"Hello, Ramolous." Kaiser whispered, gazing solemnly down at his son.

Ramolous wheezed, unable to gather enough breath to speak.

"I... wanted to have this last talk with you... before the ancestors take you." Kaiser murmured, his eyes full of sorrow.

Ramolous remained silent, having nothing to say to his father that had not already been said.

"I just... I just wanted to let you know that even though you have done all these terrible things, that I still love you."

Ramolous paused, startled for a moment by the declaration.

"And I'm sure Lanirius still loves you too," Kaiser continued, a sad smile creasing his face. "no matter what you did in her name."

"This... this wasn't about her..." Ramolous hacked, his body spasming with viscous coughs. "This... this was about the... the world..."

"They aren't evil, Ramolous," Kaiser sighed, shaking his head slowly. "they are good drakes. You never even gave them a chance."

Ramolous did not reply, instead falling into a brooding silence.

"You let your hate blind you, Ramolous. If you had just opened your eyes for one moment, you could have seen past the lies that sorcerer fed to you."

"He showed me the truth!" Ramolous snarled, his eyes flaring abruptly. "He showed me... he showed me what the p... purple dragons are capable of! He showed me their... history of blood and violence! Even if they... they **are** 'good' now... they won't be forever."

"You have to have more faith in others, Ramolous. People do not always follow the path others set out for them. Just because someone is capable of doing something, does not mean that it will necessarily happen, especially to those as strong willed as Spyro and Cynder."

Ramolous fell silent once more, refusing to budge an inch.

Kaiser sighed. "I know not what that monster showed you, but out of all the beings in the world he is the **least** trustworthy. He could give the Dark Master lessons in cruelty and deception."

Ramolous hacked, turning his gaze away from his father.

Kaiser was silent for a long time.

"Do you remember that time you found that dying squirrel in our garden?" Kaiser asked eventually, turning his gaze away from Ramolous. "You came running to us, begging for us to 'fix it.' You were filled with such hope and conviction back then; you believed anybody could do anything if they believed in it hard enough, no matter who they were.

Ramolous continued to remain silent, but his posture slumped slightly, his eyes falling to the earth.

"And that time you first visited the slums?" Kaiser whispered, shaking his head. "You were shocked at how the people down there were living. You ordered us to help build everyone in the entire city 'little palaces' so that everyone could live happily and in comfort. You personally oversaw at least a dozen house constructions, even though you were only six. You were the city's little hero."

Kaiser reached through the bars and placed his paw on top of Ramolous' fondly, a reminiscent smile crossing his face. The prince did not move, accepting the gesture. Ramolous remained silent, refusing to meet his father's eyes. Kaiser gazed at Ramolous, his smile quickly fading to be replaced by a solemn stare.

"Where did that go, Ramolous?" Kaiser asked, his eyes searching Ramolous's face. "Where did that conviction in love and hope go?"

"It was torn out of my chest, when Malefor tore mother's heart out of hers." Ramolous whispered, his eyes flickering away from Kaiser's.

Kaiser fell silent, anguish flooding over his face at the cool bitterness in his son's voice.

"They aren't responsible for letting him free, Ramolous." Kaiser retorted, hardening once more. "You can't blame them for something out of their control."

"Then why did they let him win?" Ramolous coughed, choking on his own life fluids.

"They didn't." Kaiser whispered, removing his paw from Ramolous's. "You know that. They defeated him."

The prince turned to gaze at his father silently, his sunken eyes dark and knowing. He shook his head slowly.

"You are all such fools..." Ramolous murmured, sighing tiredly. His voice trailed off for a long moment and for a split second Kaiser was convinced Ramolous had died. Then the fallen prince shifted, rolling over onto his side, to face away from his father.

Kaiser gazed silently at his son for a long time, hoping that he would say something, anything before the execution. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours and yet still neither said anything. Finally the doors creaked open, causing slashes of brilliant light to pierce into the pair's eyes. They blanched, averting their gaze for a moment to adjust to the brilliance. Terrador stepped through the door.

"It is time, Kaiser." The Guardian of Earth grunted, his expression stoney. "Everything is ready. We are only waiting on you, and the rebel."

Kaiser sighed, defeated and rose to his paws. "Alright. I'm coming. Guards, bind Ramolous and bring him to the gallows. Simple chains should be all that's necessary. He can barely walk as it is."

Terrador stepped aside to allow a pair of panther's through the door. Kaiser and the Guardian watched as they unlocked the cage, grabbed two sets of manacles and bound Ramolous, chaining his paws securely. They prodded the prince to his paws and then dragged him out of the cell.

Kaiser turned and strode out of the gaol alongside Terrador, Ramolous being tugged along behind them. They moved out through the palace and out into the courtyard where a great number of bleachers had been erected, to oversee the events to come. All were jam-packed, each and every seat filled to the brim with ferans and panthers. Many were forced to sit along the branches of the trees or up on the walls in order to get a view.

The courtyard fell silent as they entered, all eyes turning to glare at the bound Ramolous. The decaying prince withered further under their glares. He had always been anticipating this response to his presence at the end of his life, but he had hoped he would be able to face them with pride, knowing he had saved them all from doom. Now, seeing their hatred and knowing the fate that awaited them, he could only feel wretched.

He was led up to the dais raised up in the center of the courtyard and was forced to kneel down over a heavy block. A heavy-set panther hefted his axe up onto a shoulder, relaxed but ready to swing at any moment. Ramolous ignored his executioner and instead focused his eyes on the spot were his father and Terrador took their seats. His eyes flickered over the faces of the nobles of the feran court and the Guardians, all gazing at him with vehement hatred. Ramolous's eyes stopped when they reached the face of the black dragoness Cynder, who glared down at him with an imperious expression of disgust. The prince felt a growl start to rise in his throat, but he suppressed it.

"Now that we are all here," Pyron declared, standing up to address the crowd. "we may proceed with the execution of the rebel Ramolous."

"Before we commence, are there any last words wished to be spoken to the ex-prince?" Cyril asked, also standing to address the crowd. The crowd was silent, not willing, or daring to break the silence. After waiting a moment, Cyril nodded, and took his seat. "Then may the ancestors have mercy on his soul."

Ramolous turned his eyes away from the pair, to gaze one last time at his father. Kaiser remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, simply staring at his son. When he noticed Ramolous looking at him, he gave Ramolous a small, sad smile, and mouthed 'Goodbye, my son.'

Ramolous nodded and turned away, to stare at the crescent moons high above, the only beautiful things left in this soon to be desolate world.

"Ramolous, you have been found guilty of treason, attempted murder, plots of assassination and the slaughter of hundreds of innocents. Do you have any last words?" Pyron huffed, glaring down at Ramolous from the dais they sat upon.

The fallen prince continued to stare at the moons, saying nothing. Pyron waited a few seconds before snorting.

"As you wish. Kaiser, would you like to give the order, or should I?"

Kaiser let out a long sigh, and then rose from his seat. He nodded to the panther standing beside Ramolous. "You may begin."

The panther sneered, turning his gaze down to Ramolous. He hefted his axe once more, taking up a broader stance as he prepared to swing. The executioner quickly examined Ramolous's position, making sure his neck was in the optimal place on the block. Seeing that it was, he raised the axe into the air, so that its crescent blade joined the moons in the sky.

Ramolous let out a small sigh, sagging as the axe reached its zenith above his neck, poised to take his head from his shoulders. The courtyard waited in agonized silence as the panther held the position for a split second. Then he swung down, the axe arcing down, the bright steel gleaming in the moonlight.

Time seemed to stop for Ramolous as the axe descended, the prince waiting for the bright flash of pain that would come before the darkness.

The moons opened.

Ramolous's eyes flew wide as the moons expanded, the slivers of light widening until the both moons were exposed. Then they blinked, revealing themselves to be two gigantic eyes. They stared stared down at Ramolous for a moment, hovering high up in the air. The prince shivered as he felt a strange presence surround him. A low, sneering chuckle emanated from around Ramolous, causing shivers to run down his spine. Even as Ramolous stared up at the pair of eyes, two more opened, directly above the first pair.

The four eyes, blue, red, green and yellow all gazed down at the criminal, watching as the axe inched its way closer and closer to his neck. Then, a great maw opened up beneath them, stretching into a foul smile that spanned from horizon to horizon. Ramolous tried to look away, but found himself frozen, trapped in the moment right before his death. The maw opened and came down, swallowing the sky and everything around him leaving Ramolous in the dark.

Fire sparked and sputtered to life, lighting the world once more. Ramolous felt terror grip his heart.

Grasbronda burned.

Terrified citizens poured out of their homes, screaming as a tide of darkness swept over the lands, consuming everything in its wake. The dead walked, monsters roamed free and titans of stone crushed everything in their path. Countless innocents were swallowed by the tide as the fires pushed on, devouring more and more of the land until everything was burning. Warfang's walls toppled, crumbling to dust as the tide marched onward, ravaging the great city until nothing but rubble was left. Avalar was reduced to a barren wasteland and the newly constructed city at is center was torn asunder.

The people of the realms fled to the Temple as a great light from the south combated the darkness, warring over the ravaged land. The puny, flickering light that was the Temple slowly grew as the darkness was drawn away, moving to battle the light from the south.

At the center of it all was a lone figure shrouded in darkness, too small to be an adult, but too old to be considered a child. The many horned dragon watched the world around it burn with a single, blazing red eye, sneering as its homeland was torn apart.

Ramolus tried to move, tried to do something as more figures joined the dragon at the center. As they gathered, the darkness grew more intense, until almost all light was extinguished. They praised and congratulated the strange dragon, all the while urging it on.

Then the vision restarted, ending just as the two forces clashed one final time. Ramolous stared as the scenes started all over again, showing him horror after horror without respite.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" A voice whispered into the prince's ear, causing Ramolous to start in surprise.

"Who are you?" Ramolous asked, his eyes darting about the carnage, his body still refusing to move. "Are... are you the one showing me this?! Why!?"

The voice cackled, its breathy, deep voice cruel and merciless. "Why? Because I felt that you should get to see the fruits of your labor before going to meet the ancestors."

"What... what do you mean?"

Ramolous had the impression that the voice gestured to the vision before him. "All of this my boy. **All** of this will happen because of **your** actions."

"... Me?" Ramolous responded, confused. "I... I don't..."

The voice laughed mockingly. "Of course you don't. That's **painfully** obvious."

"I... I..." Ramolous stammered, trying to understand what he had just learned. "How is this my fault!? I was trying to **stop** something like this happening?!"

"Fate has a very cruel sense of humor." The voice chuckled delightedly. "Something I know all too well."

"Why are you showing me this?" Ramolous demanded of the voice, anguish boiling to the surface. "I... I can't do anything about it now! I'm literally waiting for the axe to fall! Why couldn't you show me sooner!? Why now?!"

The voice simply laughed, amused at the prince's response. "Didn't I already tell you why I'm showing you this?"

"But..."

"I think it is time for me to be off. I have kept you waiting too long now, haven't I?"

Ramolous's eyes widened as the vision faded away and the presence vanished, returning him to the real world. Before he could act, before he could utter a word the axe swung down and silenced him forever.

A loud cheer rose up from the crowd as Ramolous's head toppled to the ground, everyone completely unaware of the event that had just transpired.

Kaiser let out a long sigh, turning away from the sight of his headless son's body being pushed down from the dais. The feran king covered his face with his paws, to hide the sorrow that threatened to overcome him. Aquina draped a wing comfortingly across Kaiser's back and escorted him back into the palace, knowing that he wanted to be as far away from the scene as possible.

The citizens poured from the bleachers to crowd around the decapitated corpse of Ramolous, which they proceeded to defile. Once everyone had their share of spitting and dirt kicking the crowd dispersed, allowing the soldiers to collect the body to bury it unceremoniously in an unmarked grave. The Guardians, Kings and nobles watched the proceedings with grim satisfaction, a few of the nobles even spitting on his corpse as it was dragged past.

High above, hidden deep in the leafy canopy of the trees two dragons watched the prince being dragged away. Their golden bodies were clad in burnished silver armour, embossed with a crest of a golden shield. Yet, despite its reflective surface, the armour barely seemed to shine at all, as if the light of the twin moons couldn't quite reach their armour. Once Ramolous's headless corpse was dragged out of sight, the pair of dragons glance at each other, their hazel eyes gleaming darkly in the shadows. The air shimmered about them for a moment before they abruptly vanished, disappearing as if they had never been there to begin with.

**Dardarax's Characters:**

Savron's gang: Savron, Lyrith, Tirren, Igneous, Typhous, Sleet, Zindy, Danrah, Vash, Voltlyn.

Burnam.

Inferna, Aquina, Serion, Aideen.

Ramolous, Jaxar, Kaiser.

Mysterious Dragons X and Y.

The What-the-hell-voice-creature/person that spoke to Ramolous.

Woah, sorry for how long this one took, guys. I was just out of it for the longest time. O_o Something about writing the last chapters just made me have the hardest time actually doing the work. It's not like I didn't want them to finish, I do, but I just couldn't bring myself to work hard on this one. The next one looks to be a sinch, but this one, just wow. And the horrible thing is that, for how long it took, it's almost painfully short. :/ Oh well, when life gives you lemons...

**_Shqueezsh them in itsh eyesh._**

What are you doing here, Travix? Aren't you dead?

**_Well, yesh, but..._**

But nothing. I'm trying to talk here and you're interrupting. Can you get lost so I can finish now? Don't you have stuff to do in Goldie's story?

**_Fine, I'll go then. Assh._**

Is he gone? Good. Anyway, I would like to say that I'm shocked only one person mentioned the crazyness with Jaxar last chapter. Really people? I thought I made it blatantly obvious! How did none of you notice it (or if you did, not think it important enough to warrent mentioning)!? I'm sorry. Normally I wouldn't point something like this out, but it just startled me, that's all.

Anywho, there's only one chapter left to go in Dark Legacy 1. Then I can finally get back to work on Flames of Courage, Embers of Hope. Man it's been a while since I've done anything with that story...

Well, thanks for listening to me ramble. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed the stor...

*is mauled by Travix*


	34. Epilogue

Chapter 34 Epilogue

By Dardarax

_Disclaimer:__ I Dardarax, do __**not**__ own Spyro, Cynder, The Temple or any other character or place belonging to the Spyro franchise. I do, however, own my own characters, most of which are listed below; These same characters have also tied me to the writing desk and are barely feeding OHGODPLEASEHELPMETHEYAREALLMANIACS! I HAVEN'T SEEN THE SUN IN DAYS! NO, NOT THE WHIP! AAAAAAAHHHHH!_

_Savron: Sorry about that, just ignore that last part, he gets rowdy sometimes. Now enjoy the story he laboured to get to you. xD_

Zindy yawned, stretching on the colourful expanse of her multi-coloured bed, careful not to stress her body too much. Blinking away the last vestiges of sleep, the little yellow dragoness scooted off of the bed and carefully stood up, her legs wobbling slightly. Once she was stable, Zindy hobbled across her room, around the scattering of toys lying about. She stopped at the door and let out a long sigh as she reached up to open the door, sticking her tongue out in concentration as her limbs wobbled while trying to keep her balance. She pushed open her door, and padded out of her room, only to shut the door with a shove of her back end. Then Zindy sauntered down the hallway, careful not to go too quickly, making her way to the cafeteria.

It was quite late in the day, Zindy's schedule requiring her to sleep much later than she'd normally like. She wanted to be racing along the corridors as the sun rose in the windows, and to skip between shadows the dawn light cast like steppingstones. But her grandpa insisted she get as much rest as possible so she could, hopefully, recover enough to eventually do those things.

Zindy wandered into the cafeteria and picked up a pork chop and some gravy smothered bread. She was sitting down to eat when she noticed Lyrith wander by the cafeteria, his paws dragging and his head slumped. Zindy sat up and shuffled after him, moving as fast as she could.

"Lyr! Howareyoudoingwhydoyoulooksosad?" Zindy called after the Albino.

Lyrith stopped and looked back over to her, yawning. "Tired, not sad," he replied gruffly, shaking his head.

"Oh, wellwhydon'tyoucomeandeatwithme?" Zindy asked, smiling brightly.

"I've already eaten today," Lyrith grumbled, blinking tiredly.

"Toobad, you'recomingwithme!" Zindy declared, grabbing Lyrith's paw and dragging him back into the cafeteria. Too tired to argue, Lyrith let the little electric dragoness pull him into the empty kitchen.

Zindy sat down at the table, staring at Lyrith until he sat down across from her. Then she started eating, gobbling up her porkchops while Lyrith watched her, sighing somberly.

"I see you've recovered well," Lyrith murmured, suppressing a yawn.

"I know! I've been doing great! I might evenbeabletorunagainsometimesoon! Howareyoudoing?"

"Tired."

"Icantell,silly! Butwhyareyousotired?"

"I was up all night studying for the upcoming exams. That plus all of the work Dera-dad's putting me through at the forge, and I'm exhausted."

"Oh, Isee… HaveyouseenSavronaround?" Zindy asked, changing the subject.

"No."

""WhataboutIgneousorTirrenorTyphousor…"

"I haven't seen anyone other than you today," Lyrith groaned, rubbing his temples with his forepaws.

"Oh… let'sgolookforthem!" Zindy exclaimed, dropping her half finished pork chop and getting to her paws.

"I have classes I need to go to," Lyrith replied, getting to his paws and shaking his head. "If you find them, tell them I'll,"

"Ohno, you'recomingwithme!"

"But-"

"Comeon! Youcancatchupon yourclasseslater!"

Lyrith sighed, wanting to argue, but knowing he didn't have the mental strength to do so. Zindy pranced on ward, glancing back now and again to make sure Lyrith wasn't trying to make an escape. He didn't bother, knowing that even crippled she'd catch up to him in a heartbeat.

Zindy chattered to him all the way down the hall, her tongue waggling so fast that he quickly lost track of what she was saying. He was fairly certain it started with something involving a small, orange one horned lizard person who hated dragons she saw in a dream. After wandering the Temple halls for more than half an hour, they came across Typhous, right as Lyrith was about to give up.

"Ah, Zindy, Lyrith, we've been looking for you two!"

"You have?" Lyrith asked, starting to frown, only to lose it during a yawn.

"Yes, we have," Typhous said, smiling. "We're planning on a trip down to the town, and we were looking for you two to join us."

"Don't we have classes?"

"We can skip those today. Come on, let's go," Typhous led the two through the hallways, checking down each one to see if the others were in it. After a few minutes, he stopped, looked around and rushed down the hall to the left. "Come on, this way!"

Lyrith and Zindy walked after him, Lyrith sighing tiredly. The sun stabbed into their eyes as they left the Temple, heading through the gate and down the winding, rocky path to the nameless town at the foot of the Temple. Lyrith plodded along at the back, his head throbbing from lack of sleep, causing him to slowly lose ground on the rest of the group. The group came to a stop at the foot of the cliff, and waited for Lyr to catch up with them.

"Aw come on, Lyr!" Savron called over to him as he shambled on over. "Lift your chin up, it's a beautiful day outside!"

Lyrith yawned. "Do you really need me here? If I'm going to skip classes today, I'd rather do it for something useful, like sleeping."

"Sorry Lyr," Tirren said, grinning. "But we wanted everyone here for a proper break."

"Then where's Danrah and Voltlyn?" Lyrith asked, giving Tirren an irritated look.

"Danrah and Vash are, uh, preoccupied with an assignment the Guardians gave them," Igneous replied.

"And Voltlyn?" Lyrith asked once more, grumbling grumpily.

"We wanted her to come, but she, uh, she couldn't. Not yet anyway," Tirren replied hesitantly.

"And why must I come when she can't?" Lyrith demanded irritably.

"She** will** be coming down, she's just delayed, that's all."

Lyrith sighed, defeated. "Fine, you win, I'll come. This had just better be worth it though."

"Sheesh, Lyrith's such a grump today," Savron said, rolling his eyes and giving Tirren a smirk. "Only a real sourpuss could want to sleep a day like this away!"

Tirren nodded in agreement, followed by the others. Lyrith looked up at the partially cloudy sky, and the puddles sitting around the rocky crevices, formed by last night's thundershower.

"It's not that great of a day," Lyrith muttered to himself, suppressing a yawn, Then, the Albino followed after his friends, through the half empty streets, towards the large log building labeled 'Venison Heaven.'

The gang hustled Lyrith into the restaurant, going past the line and stopping by the hostess to get their seats. As they were seated, waiters swarmed the large table, bringing them bowls of water and cream to sip at while they selected their meals. Lyrith glanced around at the group suspiciously.

"How long have you been planning this?" Lyrith demanded, his tired red eyes narrowing.

"What do you mean, Lyr?" Tirren responded innocently.

"You had reservations for a large group table at this place, and yet nobody told me about this until today."

"Um," Savron replied, his eyes quickly glancing over the rest of the gang. "Uh, we wanted it to be a surprise."

"A surprise for what?" Lyrith asked, his voice low and dangerous. He looked around at them all, his red streaked eyes molten with irritation.

"Well, as a celebration for your first year of being here at the Temple," Sleet answered, giving Lyrith a weak smile.

"Yeah, we wanted to take you out someplace nice for your first year here," Savron agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "So, what do you want to eat?"

Lyrith stared around at the others grumpily for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, whatever," with that, Lyrith opened his menu and gazed at the choices with bleary eyes. The waiters returned, took their orders and left to bring them their appetizers. Their food was only just arriving when a deep, voice rumbled from behind Lyrith.

"Well, I was wondering when I'd run into you again, rat."

Lyrith's eyes narrowed and he turned to face the speaker. Thunder stood above him, the massive yellow dragon smirking down at Lyrith.

"I was hoping I'd never have to see your ugly mug again, to be honest," Lyrith sneered, his muzzle peeling back to reveal his fangs.

"That's a shame, because you'll be seeing a lot more of me from now on," Thunder chuckled, leaning down to stare Lyr directly in the face. "That is, unless you've become a coward like the rest of your white skinned kind."

Lyrith rose to his paws, snarling. The others got up too, eyes wide as they readied themselves to stop a possible fight. Thunder merely laughed.

"Good to know your temper hasn't changed, runt. This is what I wanted to see,"

"What are you doing here, Thunder?" Igneous demanded, wincing as he stood. He placed a paw on his stomach scars, to try and ease the pain flashing through him.

Thunder glanced over to Igneous, and then returned his gaze to Lyr.

"I'm here to challenge milky here to a duel," Thunder declared, sneering down at Lyrith. "I want a rematch from back when he defeated me."

Lyrith smirked. "Took you long enough, I was wondering if I beat a bit too much sense into that thick skull of yours. I'm glad to see that that's not the case. You're just as dense as before."

Thunder laughed heartily, seemingly genuinely amused by the insult.

"You surprised me with your skill the first time around, milky, but you won't get that advantage this time around. I won't be holding back when we step into the arena in two weeks,"

"Two weeks? What, do you need to use that time to pump yourself up so you won't piss yourself when you get into the arena?" Lyrith snorted.

"No, I'm giving you that time," Thunder sneered. He looked Lyrith up and down, huffing. "Look at you, you're a mess. I don't want to be fighting an exhausted dragon. There's no honour in that. Besides, I've already taken the past several months to train myself for this fight. I'm at my peak."

Lyrith gazed up at Thunder, sneering, but saying nothing.

"So do you accept, Lyrith? Or have you let your cowardly 'Albinoness' get to your head?"

"I accept, Thunder," Lyrith snorted, glaring at Thunder. "And I will kick your ass so hard this time, that I'll knock the colour right off of your scales."

"I look forward to it," Thunder chuckled, turning away and striding out of the restaurant, past the waiters who had been standing back anxiously, expecting a fight to break out at any moment. Lyrith retook his seat, his muzzle twisted up into an angry sneer, gazing past his friends and out the window. The waiters nervously placed the platters down on the table and hurried away, returning to their regular schedules.

"That is going to be placing a damper on the rest of the day," Typhous sighed, shaking his head. "So much for everything going smoothly."

Lyrith dug into his appetizer, suddenly invigorated, the sluggishness having vanished from his face. The others glanced at each other and shrugged, glad to see at least something good came out of the encounter. Their meals were just arriving as Voltlyn came around to their table, and sat down across from Lyrith.

"Sorry I'm late," she murmured, giving everyone a shy smile. "I see you've all decided to order without me."

"Sorry Voltlyn," Tirren said, giving her an apologetic smile. "We didn't want to wait, since we didn't know how long you'd be. You can have some of ours, though."

"Thank you," Voltlyn said, nodding appreciatively. The gang scraped some of their food onto a spare plate and passed it to Voltlyn, which she accepted with a smile. The group quickly got down to eating, their chatter dying away in order to focus on their meals.

"So, uh, Voltlyn, how are things going with you?" Typhous asked the topaz dragoness as they finished up their meals.

"Oh, things are working out wonderfully, Typhous," Voltlyn said her eyes flickering up from her meal, over Lyrith to the grey dragon. "But I was in such a rush to get here I haven't gotten a chance to pick up my order yet."

Lyrith looked up at Voltlyn, raising an eye ridge. "Your order?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, it's just something I was having made at the Wyrm's Hoard Jewlers," Voltlyn answered, shrugging indifferently.

"Oh really. Well what is it then?" Lyrith asked, "It can't be nothing if it's custom made."

"Oh, well, it's…"

"It's time for us to leave, unfortunately," Tirren interrupted, standing up. "I'll go pay the bill, while you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Lyrith glared at Tirren for interrupting, but before he could turn back to Voltlyn to try and return to the conversation, but sighed as he saw she had taken up conversation with Typhous. The Albino shook his head, and got to his paws to follow his friends as they moved to leave Venison Heaven. As they left the restaurant, Voltlyn and Typhous broke off from the group, heading further into town. Tirren caught Lyrith's gaze as he stared after them.

"She's going to go pick up that package she was talking about," Tirren clarified. Lyrith paused for a moment and then nodded.

"Why are you so inquisitive today, Lyrith?" Sleet asked, looking over at the Albino with an amused smile.

"Because I don't like people hiding things from me," Lyrith replied, turning his eyes towards the scrawny dragon.

Sleet's smile cracked. "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't think I bought that excuse you gave, do you?" Lyrith snorted. "All of you gave it away with your shifty eyes and terrible acting."

"Still don't know what you're talking about, Lyrith," Savron called from the front of the group. "I think you're just acting paranoid!"

Lyrith rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever you're up to, I'm going to be watching you."

"Whatever you want, Lyrith!" Savron called back once more. The others chuckled at the purple dragon's carefree call, much to Lyr's chagrin.

"Okay, so the first thing on our agenda after the meal was going to be stopping by the town center to listen to some of the travelling bands play. Sound good?"

The group nodded grinning. Lyrith let out a weary sigh. "Hey, if this is supposed to be a "celebration" in my honour, why am I not allowed to pick what we are doing?"

The group paused and glanced at one another. Then they looked back to Lyrith.

"Okay then, what do you have in mind?" Savron asked, smirking.

"How about you all let me go and get a good day's sleep," Lyrith requested hopefully.

"Uh… no," Tirren replied, grinning and shaking her head. "That would ruin the point of this little get together."

"Which is to what? Exhaust me into failing the exams?" Lyrith muttered under his breath, the white dragon growing increasingly frustrated.

"Of course not, silly," Savron laughed, padding over to Lyrith and giving him a fond shake with his wing. Lyrith jerked away, shoving Savron to the side.

"Don't touch me."

Savron glanced between Lyr and the others, then shrugged and continued speaking. "This is the reason we're not taking your suggestions today, Lyr, you're so grumpy! We just want to have fun with you!"

Lyrith glowered at the lot of the, then sighed. "Fine, whatever. Let's go see the stupid street performers and their screeching music. It's not like it matters to me, since it's not like there are exams looming in the horizon."

"Don't worry about that, Lyr," Igneous replied, moving to walk in stride with Lyrith as the group started off. "Those exams aren't for another month or two. You have plenty of time to get work done."

Lyrith scoffed, his eyes rolling away from the red dragon. "You can never be too prepared, and I'd rather be too ready than not."

"Well, let's just forget about all that for today and relax. It's not healthy to be so worked up all the time." Igneous insisted.

"Fine, but just this once. Let's go see if there's anything worthwhile to listen too."

…

"… so you can see the benefits of having a patron, Voltlyn, free-lancing is not nearly as well paying as some artists like to make it out to be," Typhous finished, his perfect white fangs flashing as he gave the topaz dragoness a huge smile.

Voltlyn nodded as he finished his speech, her considering the proposal. "So, if you and your dad take me on as patrons, you'd commission paintings for me and sell everything else I paint for me? Am… am I getting you right?"

"Exactly! We'd take a pittance fee for anything you'd do for another noble, and whatever we sold for you, but other than that there is nothing you'd need to worry about! All you'd need to do is paint, and we would find someone to buy it for you, so you would never have to worry about that sort of thing again!"

Voltlyn smiled, turning her ocean blue eyes to Typhous and giving him a grateful smile. "I'd love that, Typhous. Thank you so much."

"You are most welcome," Typhous replied, giving her a small, flourishing bow.

Voltlyn looked away from Typhous and around at the stores surrounding them. After a long moment of searching, she sighed. "I can't see the shop, Typhous, are you sure it's around here?"

"Of course, Voltlyn, it is just around the corner," the grey dragon replied, pointing a claw to the intersection ahead. "It's two buildings down from the left of here."

"Oh, alright, I was getting worried," Voltlyn said, sighing in relief. The pair turned the corner and made their way through the crowded street towards the small jeweler's shop. A small bell tinkled as the pair of dragons pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The building looked just as small as it had appeared on the outside and was crammed with shelves and display cases. The only thing that kept the store from being an impassable maze was its meticulous tidiness, which left almost no lose junk lying anywhere around the store. A bespectacled cheetah sat behind the tiny counter at the other end of the store. He was leaning down over the counter, peering at a shining ring laying on a piece of white cloth.

The cheetah glanced up at the ringing bell and folded the cloth up, to place it under the counter. He rose with a groan, his old bones creaking and watched the pair of dragons as they approached him.

"Um… hello mister Willow," Voltlyn murmured, forcing a shy smile onto her face. "I'm, I'm here for my order…"

The cheetah looked Voltlyn over, nodding slowly. "Yer Voltlyn, right?"

"Yes…"

"I finished yer commission two days ago, I was expecting ye sooner."

"Oh, sorry…"

"There's nothin teh be sorry bout. It's not like you waited a month," the cheetah grunted, getting up and shuffling over to a door behind the counter. "I'll get it, ye wait 'ere."

Voltlyn and Typhous sat down on their haunches, turning their gazes about the other jewelery around them as they waited. After a few minutes the cheetah returned, a small box in hand. Voltlyn stood up as he placed the box down on the counter. She reached down to her neck, fished out a couple gold pieces and placed them down on the counter by the box.

"This is the last of the payment," Voltlyn murmured, smiling up at the cheetah. The cheetah looked down at the coins and grunted.

"Ye supposed to look at the finished product before paying the last bit, missy, so I know there's nothing else I needed the do."

"Oh…" Voltlyn murmured, her smile fading away. She glanced down at the counter, raising a paw hesitantly. After a few seconds she picked up the box, leaving the coins on the table and looked into the box. A huge smile crossed her face, and she looked up at the cheetah.

"It's perfect," she murmured, closing the box.

"Ye sure there's nothin more ye want me teh do?"

"No, it's exactly as I wanted it," Voltlyn replied, slipping the box into her neck pouch. The cheetah shrugged and slid the coins across the counter, and put them in his own purse.

"Good, hope yeh have a good day then, miss Voltlyn."

"I will, thank you so much.

"Just doin my job, miss."

Voltlyn and Typhous left the store, Voltlyn beaming the entire way. Typhous looked over to her with a raised eyeridge, "I don't suppose I could see it…" the grey dragon asked, curiously.

Voltlyn paused, frowning. "Well, um… I'm not sure…"

Typhous chuckled, shaking his head. "Never mind, I will get to see it soon enough anyway."

Voltlyn nodded, started to speak and then paused, her eyes fixing on an approaching figure. Typhous noticed her staring and followed her gaze.

"Oh, hello Danrah, I see you're finally finished Inferna's chores!" the grey dragon called over to the shadow dragon princess with a wave.

"Almost, but not quite yet," the black dragoness panted, jogging up to them and stumbling to a halt. "I… I'm down here to tell you that we only need another hour and everything will be… will be set up. So come on up soon, alright?"

Typhous and Voltlyn glanced at one another and nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for taking the time to inform us, Danrah, we will tell the others, don't worry," Typhous said with a short bow.

"Thanks guys. I think, I think I'll go get a drink before heading back up. I'm parched."

The topaz and grey dragon watched as Danrah wandered over to a café, her shoulders slumped in exhaustion. Typhous turned back to Voltlyn.

"I suppose we should go warn the others, we do not want to miss it."

"Yeah," Voltlyn agreed, nodding once as the pair turned to follow the path the other group went down. They found the rest of the group sitting in front of a small stand, where a few cheetahs, moles and canines were playing an assortment of wind instruments. The gang sat surrounding Lyrith, with rapt gazes fixed on the band. The Albino, conversely, looked on the verge of falling asleep, the flighty wind instruments seemingly causing him to doze off.

Voltlyn and Typhous sat down on either side of Savron, who glanced momentarily up at them. He grinned as she saw the package Voltlyn held in her paw.

"So, how'd it turn out?"

"Better than I'd hoped for," Voltlyn replied with a smile.

"Sav, Inferna wants us to go see her in an hour," Typhous whispered, so as not to distract the band. Savron turned his gaze to Typhous, his broad grin fading for a moment.

"Oh, alright. I guess you guys were right about me not needing to plan that extra three hours worth of activities then."

Typhous gave Savron a sly smirk, and then turned to listen to the band as they finished.

"So, we've got another half hour before we should fly back up to the Temple," Savron told the others as they left the town square, having listened to each of the bands playing in turn.

Lyrith groaned. "Great, not only was I dragged out here after hours of exhausting labour, but now I have to do chores too. What did I do in a previous life to deserve this treatment?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Lyr," Igneous said with a grin, shuffling over to the white dragon, about to start patting him on the back, only to deicide better. "Inferna only wants us to go, you're welcome to go and get some sleep instead."

Lyrith looked to Igneous, somewhat puzzled, then shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"So, what should we do for the next half hour?" Sleet asked, looking up at his friends curiously.

"Hm, well I don't know if we'll have time to do most of the things I had planned," Savron huffed, looking down at his sheet of paper. "but just to recap them anyway, we could do the scavenger hunt, watch/play the kick ball game on the other end of town. Or we could enter that meat pie eating contest that new restaurant is hosting for its first week of being open, or we could..."

"Iwannaplaytheballgame!" Zindy cheered, bouncing up and down once, then wincing as pain strained her back. "Owie."

"That's probably not such a good idea, Zindy," Tirren murmured, laying her wing comfortingly across the little yellow dragoness' back. "How about we watch it instead?"

"That's no fun," Zindy mumbled, pouting.

"Why don't we go down to the bookshop and browse a while. Like Sav said, we don't really have time for that sort of activity anyway," Sleet suggested, pointing to a shop just down the street.

"Oh come on, Sleet, if I wanted to study I'd go bury my head under a few books in the library and cry myself to sleep!" the purple dragon complained, rolling his head back in exasperation.

"Well, actually I'd like to see what they have there," Tirren replied with a smile, turning her gaze from Igneous, to stare at Savron.

"I would too, actually. I haven't read a good book a while, and it would be nice to find another," Igneous said as well, nodding to Tirren. The rest of the group spoke up their agreement with the two, and, without Savron's guidance, started towards the bookstore. Savron let out a groan, shaking his head.

"Fine! Have it your way! I'll go too, but I'm not going to enjoy myself!"

"Knock yourself out, Sav!" Tirren called back as they entered the store. "preferably literally, since we don't want to hear your sniveling!"

Savron muttered to himself, but followed them inside, having nothing better to do.

"Hey Lyr! Let'sgoandchecktouttheadventurestories!" Zindy insisted, grabbing Lyrith's foreleg and dragging him across to the left side of the store.

Lyrith sighed, a small smirk crossing his face, despite his rolling eyes. "Fine, if you insist."

Voltlyn watched the two, and then followed after them, a wide grin spread across her face.

…

"I thought you said Inferna wanted to see you?" Lyrith muttered to himself as he and the gang filed through the kitchens and out into the corridor heading towards the Albino's room.

"We do, Lyr, but, since you're so tired we figured we'd escort you back to your room, you know, in case something happens," Igneous replied with a shrug.

"Nothing will happen," Lyrith muttered, shaking his head. "It's not like… not like I'll be getting lost here. I've memorized where my… my room is," the white dragon yawned.

"Still, we'd rather you not accidentally walking over a landing platform without realizing it," Tirren insisted.

"Yeah, we really don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt because we weren't careful."

"You all worry too much," Lyrith replied as they approached his room. "I know exactly where I'm going, even when I'm this tired."

"Then why are we in the female's corridor?" Savron asked with a smirk.

Lyrith paused, glanced around at the corridor and then turned an angry pair of blood red eyes back onto Savron.

"We're NOT in the female's corridor," Lyrith snarled, glaring at the purple dragon.

Savron snorted in laughter. "Made you look. Maybe you aren't as confident as you led us to believe?"

"Go get your ass kissed by an angry snapping turtle, Savron," Lyrith muttered to himself as he turned to the door of his room. He reached over to the handle, and then paused. The door was open a crack, something he would never let himself do.

Lyrith immediately went on guard, glancing around the hall for any further signs of suspicion. He glanced back at the group, for a moment, gesturing with his eyes to the handle. The gang glanced at one another, their expressions suddenly turning anxious.

"Uh… I don't know, Lyr. Why don't you open it up and see if something's wrong?" Savron suggested nervously. "We'll be right behind you?"

Lyrith stared at the purple dragon for a moment, frowning at the response. Then, cautiously, he opened the door to his room and leapt in, ready for any danger whatever was in there might throw at him.

The lights flicked on in his room, banishing the darkness.

"Surprise! Happy hatchday, Lyrith!" came a cacophonous cheer as a dozen dragons jumped out of hiding from inside his room. His furniture had been moved about to make room for half a dozen tables that had been dragged inside and stacked with platters of nearly every meat dish imaginable. Colourful streamers and boxes of trinkets were crammed into the crowded room, filling the once dreary stone chamber with much needed colour. Standing in the middle of the room was Inferna and Deran, along with Spyro, Cynder and a handful of other teachers and students. All of them were dressed up in conical hats and blowing paper buzzers in celebration of the event.

After a moment they fell silent and gazed at Lyrith, who stood at the entrance of his room, staring blankly at them, his muzzle slack as his tired brain tried to process what was occurring in front of him. Finally, after a long minute of silence the white dragon swallowed, looking up into Inferna's eyes.

"This… this is for me?" he asked, his incredulous voice small.

"Of course, Lyr," Inferna said, walking over to her son and smiling down at him. "Remember back when I first accepted you as a student? I promised that we'd make your next hatchday a worthwhile event."

"We?" Lyrith murmured, staring up at the Fire Guardian in confusion.

"Yeah, we!" a small ice dragoness said, rushing out of the crowd to bounce around Lyrith excitedly. "Remember! We promised that our next hatchday would be especially for you!"

Lyrith stared down at the small ice dragoness for a moment, then recognition dawned on him. "Ireeca?" he asked, startled.

"You do remember me!" Ireeca squealed happily, giving Lyr a huge hug.

"Inferna put a lot of work into this party," Spyro murmured as he and the other partygoers approached Lyrith. "It's been in the works for nearly a month now."

"She roped quite a few of us into helping her, in one way or another," Cynder chuckled, looking around at the decorations. "She pulled favours that I didn't even know we owed her to get half of this stuff."

"What are you doing just sitting there, Lyr? Come on! Let's get this party started!" Savron cried from behind the white dragon, getting up to give Lyrith a shove further into the room. The rest of the students cheered, crowding around Lyrith, much to his surprise, and dragged him into the center of his room.

"Whatshouldwedofirst!?" Zindy whooped, stumbling into the room and looking around excitedly.

"Why don't we start with the cake?" Voltlyn murmured from the back of the group. There was a pause for a moment and then they all shouted in agreement. Lyrith yelped as they grabbed him once more and dragged him over to the long table sitting on the far side of the room parallel to the window. They plopped Lyrith down at the head of the table, in front of a huge pan covered in a plaid cloth. Inferna, Deran and Inferna sat in the seats at the head of the table alongside Lyrith, while everyone else grabbed what seats they could.

Savron was dragged over to sit by his parents with much protesting. Igneous and Tirren were about to sit together, only to be separated by an exuberant Zindy who plopped down beside the still injured fire dragon, chattering so fast she sounded like a chipmunk. Sleet and Typhous sat across from them, alongside Serion, the gym teacher, who was already singing happy hatchday bawdily. Danrah and Vash, took their seat opposite Lyrith, the black dragoness grabbing Vash's paw to give Lyrith a wave, much to the cloud patterned dragon's displeasure. Burnam, the chatterbox fire dragon sat down beside Typhous and started up a conversation with Zindy, while Talon, a silver dragon Lyrith vaguely recognized from several months back took up conversation with Sleet. Volteer, Dyama and Voltlyn sat at a far corner, a fair distance away from the white dragon, the later two half listening to Volteer's longwinded banter about the history of the hatchday celebration.

The Albino dragon stared around at everyone seated around him, rendered speechless by the sight before him. He looked over to Ireeca, then up to Inferna, his muzzle moving as he tried to form words to describe the warmth spreading through his chest.

"I… I don't know what…"

"Don't worry about it, Lyrith," Inferna murmured, placing a claw on Lyrith's muzzle to silence him. "You don't have to say anything. This is your day, enjoy it."

"So, when do we start singing?" Savron asked, shouting over the cacophony of voices.

"Weren't we already doing that?" Serion asked, glancing down at the purple drake.

"No, Serion, that was just you," Spyro laughed, shaking his head.

"Oh, sorry," Serion chuckled, shrugging. "Well why don't we start again?"

"Wait!" Inferna murmured, raising a paw to silence the partygoers as she scrutinized the about the table intently. "We're missing people."

Lyrith frowned and looked around at the assembled crowd, trying to figure out whom they might be referring too. Deran slapped his forehead.

"Crap, sorry darling, I forgot to go get them!"

Inferna sighed in exasperation. "Great, now we'll have to put everything on hold while…"

"Leave it to me," Cynder murmured, rising from her seat and approaching a dark shadow in the corner of the room. "I will go get them. Just wait a moment."

Inferna gave Cynder a grateful smile as the Guardian of Shadow and Wind jumped into the patch of darkness, disappearing from sight. She emerged a moment later, a small family of moles clutched to her back. Lyrith's muzzle fell open in shock.

"Aggernon?! Is that you? And Milesy, Grann? Bellue? What are all of you doing here?"

"Aye, zeh whole family iz here," Aggernon said with a wave as Cynder crouched down to let the moles down.

"But when? How?" Lyrith stammered, speechless.

"We brought them along with Ireeca by train, and hid them in safe rooms where you'd have no chance of running across them," Cynder explained, with a grin. "Though I'm shocked that we nearly forgot about an entire mole family."

"Aye, we were starting to zink yee brought us here for nefarious purposes," Milesy, Aggernon's wife, joking as she plopped down off of Cynder's back.

Everyone at the table chuckled at the jest, shaking their heads.

"Well, we tend to be a bit more careful with our "nefarious deeds,"" Inferna chuckled, giving the family a wide grin. "We prefer leaving our victims in our magic fairy dungeon guarded by a two headed unicorn and its redcap Gnome boyfriend."

The partygoers redoubled their chuckles, and were joined by the mole family.

"Eet would have been an easier wait had yah given us somesing to do while we waited," Grann mumbled, his laugh dying as the four moles wandered around the table, to take the spare seats.

"Aye, even a deck of cards would haff given us somesing to pass zeh time," Bellue agreed.

"Quite ze bellyaching!" Aggernon shushed, settling in his seat alongside Lyrith. "Eet is a hatchday party here! We shouldn't ruin zeh mood!"

"Agreed, Aggernon," Inferna said, nodding to the plump mole. "Now that everyone is here, we can finally start this party. Deran, if you please, lift the cloth so I may light the candles."

The green earth dragon gave Inferna a smile, and obeyed, reaching over to the pan in front of Lyrith, and lifting the cloth away. Lyrith was taken aback by the sight of the enormous meatloaf cake sitting under the cloth, already set with eighteen long candles. Inferna leaned forward, the Guardian of Flame taking a quick breath, and blowing a cloud of flame out of her nostrils. The flames took shape into a swarm of fire dragonflies, which flew around the table, much to the amazement of those sitting there. Then they doubled back, zooming over the candles and lighting them with their sparking wings.

Lyrith shook his head in awe at the display, watching the dragonflies sputter and fade into tiny puffs of smoke at the far reaches of his room. There was a whooping cheer at the display, the crowd of dragons and moles clapping at the show. Inferna rose and bowed, then took her seat beside Lyrith. Then, everyone turned their eyes to him.

The white dragon gazed down at the flickering candlelight, sudden warmth spreading through his chest. He took a shaky breath, then glanced up at the guests who watched him with wide grins across their faces. Savron shouted something from across the table, urging the white dragon to blow them out and ignoring the stern looks of his parents. The rest of his friends followed suit, cheering and waving their paws, trying to catch his attention.

Lyrith opened his muzzle, about to say something, only to find the words catching in his throat, the swelling in his breast nearly choking him. He took a long, deep breath, a smile breaking over his muzzle as the rest of the students, and Grann and Bellue started up a chant, urging him on. Lyrith looked around the table once more, gazing into the beaming faces of everyone seated at the long table, all chanting, pounding the table with their paws to the beat, or calling over the din their encouragement.

The Albino turned back to the candles, a broad grin now spread across his scarred features, the chanting finally getting to him, and inhaled sharply. There was a raucous cheering as Lyrith blew out the candles, catching every single one and snuffing it out.

"Aw, looks like Lyrith doesn't have a lady-friend," Savron joked from the other end of the table, calling over the cheers. Bubbling laughter joined the cheering.

"Neither do you, you dolt!" Tirren shouted at the purple. Laughter completely overtook the cheering, and jests begun to hurl across the thick wooden table.

Lyrith laughed alongside them, unable to contain himself as insults and jibes were tossed this way and that. Never before had he felt this light and exuberant. Lyrith paused for a moment, glancing up as he felt a paw rest on his shoulder. Inferna and Deran smiled down at him, the two large figures relieved to see Lyrith so filled with joy.

Without warning, Lyrith felt his eyes burn, momentarily choking up as his chest clenched tightly around his heart. Lyrith leaned over and hugged Inferna, his smile wavering only a moment before blossoming into a huge beaming smile. Inferna glanced over to Deran, who joined the hug hesitantly. There was renewed whooping and friendly shouting at the sight of the three embracing, though Lyrith barely heard them at all.

Finally, Lyr broke away from the two, letting out a deep sigh. He glanced up into both of his parent's faces, and spoke, his voice shaky from the tightness in his chest.

"When I… when I woke up this morning, this was the last thing I thought would happen," Lyrith chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"Why? Did you forget it was your hatchday today?" Inferna asked, coyly.

Lyrith opened his muzzle to reply, then paused, thinking about it. He answered with a shrug.

Deran looked over to Inferna, chuckling. "He did forget."

"Well it certainly made the surprise party more surprising that way," Inferna murmured, patting Lyrith on the back. "Now why don't you help me cut the meatloaf, Lyr?"

The jesting guests heard the remark and gave a thrilled shout.

"Aw yeah! It's about time!"

"Apparently that's Ember's special meatloaf! I can't wait to try it!"

"Give me an EXTRA big slice, I'm starving!"

"But you just ate at Venison Heaven, Sav! How can you be starving?!"

"Can you quite your nagging for just one moment and pass me a plate, Rin? I don't need to explain my method to anyone!"

"Sav's just a glutton, that's what."

"Shut up, Igneous! Stop tying to embarrass me!"

Lyrith shook his head, turning his attention away from the banter and accepted the knife Inferna offered him, getting to work cutting the meatloaf, while Inferna passed around the slices to the other guests, leaving the largest in front of the white dragon.

The meatloaf was gone in no time, guests demanding seconds, sometimes even thirds until there was nothing left to carve up. Once finished, Inferna immediately directed everyone to the various games littered about the room and everyone set off to begin the party.

Lyrith looked around his room, trying to decide where he should go first. He caught sight of Savron, Igneous and Typhous waving at him from beside a large tub of something. Shrugging, Lyrith wandered over to them.

"So, Lyr, how's the party going for you?" Typhous asked, giving the white dragon a nod and a smile as he approached them.

"I don't know what to say, honestly," Lyrith chuckled, shrugging. "But if I had to say something, I'd say it's everything I hoped for in a hatchday party."

"That's exactly what Inferna was trying to do. She said she wanted your first hatchday party to have everything one would think of when thinking about this sort of event." Igneous replied, looking around the room.

"Yeah, she got everything alright. Some of this stuff I haven't seen in a hatchday party since I was a cub," Savron laughed, tapping the tub with his forepaw.  
"Bobbing for meatballs, pin the tail on the ape, spin the bottle, you name it!"

Lyrith gazed at them, his expression abruptly going dark. Savron, Igneous and Typhous noticed his change in attitude, and glanced at one another.

"Er… we say something wrong?" Typhous inquired, hesitantly.

"Inferna told you about this being my first?" Lyrith asked, his voice monotone.

"Well, yeah, she did sort of mention it when she was getting everything prepared," Igneous murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She said it when she was explaining why she wanted all of the kitsch stuff," Savron murmured, gesturing around the room. "I'm sure she didn't mean to tread on any toes, she just wanted us to know why she was making such a huge event out of it."

Lyrith glared at them for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, I guess there's no harm done."

"Great! How about we start with the bobbing, then go around to the treat bar? I think I see some jam snacks Inferna had Ember whip up for you." Savron asked, grinning.

Lyrith smirked, and shrugged. "Why not?"

After several dunks, most of which failed to yield any meatballs, the four left the tub, wiping gravy from their faces and laughing. Halfway across the room they came across Danrah spinning Tirren about, as the green dragon held a pin and tail in one hand. Danrah stopped Tirren, facing the image of the ape, only to stagger about dizzily. The four drakes came a stop, to watch the green dragoness move hesitantly forward, trying to find the ape through both her blindfold, and her dizziness.

Savron grinned, watching her as she tried to decide which direction to go.

"Go left, Rin!" Savron shouted, grinning.

Tirren hesitated as she heard his voice, considered it for a moment, and then went right, going against Savron's decision. She pinned the tail on the picture, and raised her blindfold. She cursed: the tail was too far right of the ape's behind. She turned to glare at Savron, who shrugged, chuckling.

"Should have gone left, Tirren."

"You knew I wouldn't follow your instructions, you twit!"

"I was just trying to offer some helpful advice, Rin," Savron replied with a laugh, shaking his head. "You should trust me once and a while! I'm not always trying to trip you up!"

"Sure you aren't! And I'm an ape's uncle!" Tirren called after the four as they continued along, snickering to themselves. Muttering to herself she pawed over the blindfold to give Danrah a try.

"Seriously though, I was," Savron said to the others once they were out of sight. Lyrith, Igneous and Typhous rolled their eyes doubtfully. "Some friends you are."

"Hey, Lyr!" Ireeca called, racing up to the white dragon, Zindy following along behind her. "Come with us! We want to hear what you've been doing here at the Temple!"

"Yeah, tellthemabouthetimeyoubeatthetaroutofThunder!"

Lyrith glanced up to where Ireeca was pointing, looking past Spyro and Cynder dancing in an empty corner of the room to the tune of Voltlyn's music box, across Serion, Volteer, Inferna and Deran talking, to Aggernon and his family waving to him. He glanced down at the two and nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

"Okay Lyr, we'll see you at the snack bar when you're done!" Igneous said, the three giving the white dragon a wave. Lyrith waved back, before heading off with Ireeca and Zindy, who chatted excitedly along the way.

An hour and a half later, Inferna dropped by the group sitting in the corner of the room, to watch Lyr as he recounted whatever story Zindy demanded he tell.

"Zindy dear, how about you give Lyrith a break so he can enjoy the rest of his party?" Inferna asked, raising a paw to quiet Zindy's exuberant greeting.

"Oh, Isupposethat'donly be fair," Zindy sighed, sadly. "Butwhenyougetbackyouhave tofinishtellingthemaboutthattime Torchrandomlyranoverand punched you!"

"Yeah, I want to know why he did that," Ireeca said, pouting.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will," Inferna murmured, giving Ireeca a nod and a smile. Lyrith rolled his eyes in exasperation as Inferna answered for him, but otherwise did nothing. "Aggernon, Milsey, Grann and Bellue? Would you all like to come with us?" Inferna asked of the mole family as they sat quietly around the white dragon.

Milsey smiled, rose and bowed. "Eet would be our pleasure."

The mole family rose to join Lyrith and Inferna, and the group set off across the room, through the dancing and chatting dragons, to where Deran, Volteer and Serion sat. The Fire Guardian looked down to Lyrith as they walked, giving him a small smile.

"So, what do you think of the party, Lyr?" she asked, anxiety touching her voice. Lyrith looked up at her with a grin.

"It's amazing. It's everything I'd ever wanted," the white dragon murmured, shaking his head in wonder.

Inferna beamed, flashing her white fangs in delight. "Great! You have no idea how relieved that makes me to know you're enjoying yourself" and with that, the Guardian of Flame pranced on ahead of the group, a light skip to her step as she led the way. Aggernon chuckled, shaking his head in amazement as the Fire Guardian skipped away, humming happily to herself like a young girl.

"Aye, eet always amazes me zat she iz zeh Guardian of Fire. I always imagined zeh were all stuffy too-good-for-zee dragons. Yet, zey supprise me at every turn. Sometimes I forget who zey really are."

Lyrith nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean, Aggernon. Sometimes I forget that myself."

Aggernon, his family and Lyr all sat down alongside Inferna, the mole family giving a short bow to Volteer and Serion, both of whom wave it away with smiles.

"So, how is the party, Backflip?" Serion asked Lyrith with a smile. "Are you having a blast!?"

"I'm starting to get sick of that question," Lyrith retorted with a snort, rolling his eyes in sudden irritation.

"Oh," Serion said, his broad grin fading slightly.

"What he means is he's having fun. He told me so himself," Inferna said to the ice dragon physical education teacher. "Little Lyr just gets a bit grumpy on occasion."

Lyrith gave Inferna hard glare at the taunt, to which she laughed, sticking her tongue out at the white dragon.

"Ah, good," Serion said, his grin returning at Inferna's comment. "I am quite excited to hear that. We put a lot of work into this party."

"You are most correct, Serion," Volteer said with an emphatic nod. "It is extraordinarily gratifying to know that our laborious struggle to put this magnificent, extravagant, splendiferous party together that it has paid off in the end."

"Splendiferous?" Deran chuckled, incredulously. "Is your vocabulary finally starting to run dry, Volteer?"

The Guardian of Lightning huffed indignantly. "I would have you know that Splendiferous was once a very well respected term, back before the war with the Apes started. It is only now that it's silly connotations have begun to arise. Even still, I will not have you disrespect such a noble, magnanimous and grandiose word in my presence!"

Inferna and Serion desperately tried to reign in their fits of snickering as Volteer berated Deran for daring to insult "Splendiferous." Their giggling quickly caught on with Lyrith and the moles, who were unable to suppress their own chuckles any longer. Volteer turned to them with an indignant huff, rolling his eyes at the laughing group sitting around his table, not amused in the slightest. Deran soon joined them, getting over his shock at Volteer snapping at him.

Milsey sighed, wiping her beady eyes with the corner of her shawl.

"So, I could not help but admiring zeh stonework here at zeh Temple, Mister Volteer. We have never seen such a wondrous building before, even in Warfang itself," Milsey murmured, letting her laughter die, deciding it was time to change the subject.

Volteer perked up at the comment, his sour expression dissipating. "You are quite right, Mrs. Milsey, there is not another structure like it in all of the dragon realms, It does not have the history of the old dragon Temple, which was lostduringthefirstResurrectionwhen Malefor usedhismagictoheaveitupintotheair likesomesortoftoy, butitdoeshaveseveralnew…"

Milsey and Aggernon listened to Volteer's spontaneous lecture with interest, not seeming to fake it in the least. Grann and Bellue, however, who looked like they had questions, turned away from Volteer in frustration, seeing that Volteer was not gong to be slowing down any time soon.

"Mum iz right," Grann said, turning his attention to Inferna. "zis Temple is absolutely amazing. Now zat zeh party has begun, would it be alright if we were allowed to explore a little before we left?"

"Of course you are welcome to look around. There are lots of interesting things here at the Temple, though you may not be able to explore everything even in the week you are staying here, but I recommend…" Inferna said, stopping to contemplate what they might be interested in.

"Are zere any secret passages or rooms in zeh Temple?" Bellue asked, unable to contain himself. "We would really like to see some of zem!"

"Well," the red and orange dragoness murmured uncertainly. "I don't know if that's the best idea, some of those passages can be dang..."

"Go talk to Savron about getting a tour of the Temple," Lyrith replied, cutting off anything Inferna might have said afterwards. "He's big into exploration and knows just about every secret the Temple has to offer. I'm sure he would enjoy taking you around to see the sights, whether obvious or not."

"Thanks, Lyr!" Grann said with a smile, the two teenage moles getting to their feet in a rush. They gave Inferna a grateful bow and then rushed off to where Lyrith pointed out the purple dragon. Inferna gave Lyrith a flat look, to which Lyrith vengefully stuck out his tongue at her. After a half an hour of sitting around, chatting with friends and family, Lyrith rose to his paws, stretching.

"I should probably go back around to visit some more, mom, dad," Lyrith said, nodding to Deran and Inferna. "I will talk to you later."

"Bye Lyr!" Inferna said, giving Lyrith a wave as he turned away. Then she added, jokingly. "Don't forget to write!"

"Have fun, son," Deran added with a nod, giving a short wave of his own. Lyrith returned both waves, and then disappeared into the crowded room once more.

The Albino dragon had only been walking for half a minute when he bumped right into Voltlyn, neither of them having paid any attention to their surroundings. The topaz dragoness immediately flushed as the white ran straight into her, the dragoness quickly looking up from the floor to his face.

"Oh, sorry," she said, giving Lyrith a small, apologetic smile. Lyrith looked her in the eyes, frowning slightly.

"Don't worry about it, it was probably more my fault anyway," Lyrith replied after a moment, shrugging. "So, how are things going with you?"

"Oh, I'm doing great," Voltlyn murmured, glancing around at the party slowly growing out of paw around them. "It's quite something isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Lyrith replied, before going silent. The two stood together in silence for a moment, simply listening to the chatter around them. Then Lyr spoke up once more. "So I take it that this is the reason you all dragged me down to town? To keep me from finding out about this party?"

Voltlyn nodded, a small smile breaking over her muzzle. "Yes."

"I thought you were all up to something, but until I opened the door to my room I wasn't sure what," Lyrith chuckled, plopping down on his haunches and shaking his head. "You all had me fooled."

"What did you think we were up to before?" Voltlyn asked, sitting down beside him, and looking up into his face.

"I don't know. I guess I thought that you all might have been trying to force me to take a break from studying, or maybe that you were planning on playing a prank on me."

Voltlyn snickered. "Well, the first guess was part of it, at least. We wanted to make you take a break. You are working too hard, Lyrith."

"That's the only way I do work," the white dragon sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I guess I just go all or nothing."

"Well, hopefully we can help you find a medium," Voltlyn replied, placing a paw on his shoulder. Lyrith accepted the gesture, taking a silent, mental note to think about why he didn't snap at her when she touched him, like he did with just about everyone else. The pair fell silent once more, getting up from their spots only to let a conga line pass by.

"Lyrith," Voltlyn said after a long moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"Would it be alright if you opened this early?" Voltlyn asked, reaching into the pouch hanging from around her neck, to produce a small box. Lyrith glanced down at it, raising an eye ridge in surprise.

"Is that a present?" he asked, startled.

"Yeah, it is. That's the reason I didn't want to tell you what it was when I went to go get it."

"Oh, that explains it. It was that package you needed to go pick up."

Voltlyn nodded. "Will you open it now, please?"

Lyrith took it from her open paw hesitantly, glancing around the room. "Isn't there usually a designated present opening time in these sorts of events?" he asked, cautiously.

Voltlyn nodded once more.

"So, why do you want me to open it early?" he asked, looking the box over.

"I… I don't know. I just… I just want you too," Voltlyn mumumbled, kicking her paws together lightly, her ocean blue eyes descending to the ground. Lyrith looked from the box, to Voltlyn, and then back down at the box. He shrugged and tore away the thin paper wrapped around the box, then lifted the lid. Lyrith's red eyes flew wide, and his muzzle fell open in astonishment.

Laying in the box was a huge ruby pendant, the huge flawless red ruby set in engraved gold, designed with patterns of small dragons battling, and hooked with a long, thin gold chain. Lyrith slumped down on his haunches, staring at the pendant in awe. Voltlyn smiled at his expression and leaned forward to look at it herself.

"I… I take it that you like it?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Where, how… this necklace must have been worth a fortune," Lyrith murmured, glancing up at her, his red eyes wide. "You shouldn't have done this for me. Not after the situation you were in…"

Voltlyn shook her head, her smile still holding. "No, don't worry about me, it didn't cost me all that much. I had to sell most of my paintings, but I supplied some of the materials myself, so it didn't cost as much as you think."

"You supplied the materials… ancestors, please don't tell me you used other jewelry to make this…"

Voltlyn shook her head. "Just the ruby, Lyr, and it wasn't a family gem. I found it when we were exploring that cave while trying to warn Spyro and Cynder."

"But this gem could have helped pay off your debt, or helped buy back your house. Why are you giving it to me? I don't deserve something like this."

"Because I want you to have it," Voltlyn said, her voice suddenly growing anxious. "Because you do deserve to have something wonderful like this. Because you're special to me..."

Lyrith gazed down at the pendant for a minute, not saying anything. Voltlyn glanced up at him, worried he'd refuse to accept the pendant. She met his eyes as he looked from the necklace, and saw a grateful smile grace his face.

"Thank you, Voltlyn. It's an amazing gift. I still think it's too much for me, but if you really want me to have it, I'll take it."

Voltlyn felt her heart lift, joyous relief filling her breast. She gave him a wide smile, nodding. "You're welcome."

Lyrith put down the box and took out the pendant, examining it closely. Voltlyn stepped forward and took the pendant from him, unlatching a small hook on its side.

"It's actually a locket," Voltlyn murmured, opening the pendant to show Lyrith. "It can't store much, but I could paint a portrait of someone special to put in there, if you wanted," Voltlyn finished the suggestion weakly, her smile faltering for a moment before she forced it back onto her face. "Maybe someone special from your past?"

Lyrith took the locket from her and examined it. He looked up at Voltlyn, his smile glowing. "Alright, Voltlyn. I'll think about it and tell you if there's someone I want you to paint, though you're not doint that for free. I AM paying you for the painting, whether you accept it or not."

Voltlyn chuckled, but nodded in understanding. "If you insist, Lyr. Now hold still while I put it on for you."

Voltlyn took the locket, unlatched the chain and sat down on her haunches so she could properly reach around his neck. Lyrith stared into Voltlyn's face as she leaned forward, nearly brushing her snout against his as she latched the locket on behind his neck. Then she quickly retreated, flushing at how close she had gotten to the white dragon. She glanced back up at him a moment later, and admired how it clashed against his scales, like a droplet of blood against white snow.

"It really brings out your eyes," Voltlyn murmured, her own eyes moving up to meet his. "I like it."

Lyrith flushed lightly at the comment, surprised at the warm feeling that was conjured in his throat and face. He quickly banished it and gave her a weak nod.

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome."

Lyrith looked down at the locket, taking it in his paw to examine it.

"This reminds me of the opal pendant Inferna gave me last year," he murmured, examining the necklace. Voltlyn frowned.

"She gave you her opal necklace?"

"Yeah. It was right after I told her about my hatchday and how I never got one. She insisted I have it, but I haven't worn it since I got to the Temple."

"Oh…"

"I wonder if I'd look too gaudy wearing two pendants?" Lyrith chuckled, looking up at Voltlyn and grinning. The topaz dragoness smiled back, somewhat relieved to hear the comment. Once more they fell into an awkward silence, neither having any idea what to say to the other. Desprately, Lyrith looked around the party room, trying to think of something to say or do to keep the conversation going. He didn't want it to end there. His eyes fell on Spyro and Cynder who were resuming their dance after a particularly long break, and a smile spread across his face. He turned back to Voltlyn, getting to his paws.

"Volltyn, would you like to dance?" he asked, hopefully. Volltyn perked up, shocked by the suggestion. She looked between Lyrith and the ground, her face flushing rose red.

"Oh, um… that, that sounds lovely," she murmured, her voice catching in her throat as embarrassment gripped her. Lyrith offered her a paw up, which she took hesitantly, and then led her to the corner with Voltlyn's music box, both dragons flushing lightly along the way.

Spyro and Cynder noticed the two approaching their corner, glanced at one another knowingly and quickly stepped off so the two could have room to dance. Lyrith did his best to ignore the gazes and mutterings of the party guests as he and Voltlyn came to a stop in the middle of their corner, facing one another. Lyrith watched Voltlyn as she gave he limbs a quick stretch, warming herself up and then leaned forward, to whisper to her.

"Er, Voltlyn, I've got to be honest, I've never really done any dancing before," Lyrith murmured, hoping nobody could hear him. Voltlyn looked up at him as she finished her stretches, giving him a warm smile.

"It's alright, Lyrith. Just follow my lead. You're quick on your paws, so you should catch on quickly."

Lyrith nodded dubiously, hesitantly doing his own quick warm up as Voltlyn walked over to the music box, inserted one of the spare crystals and then returned to stand in front of Lyrith. A jaunty tune started up, the beat starting off somewhat slow, but quickly gaining speed. Voltlyn nodded to Lyrith and started moving around him, her paws shifting in deliberate and purposeful movements. Lyrith trained his eyes on Voltlyn's paws, watching her movements and mimicking them as best as he could, moving in the opposite direction to circle around her as she circled him.

Voltlyn kept her eyes on his face, a fond smile creasing her muzzle at the sight of the intense look of concentration on his face. Bit by bit, she sped up the pace of the dance, effortlessly twirling, bowing, stepping back and spinning to the beat of the music. The Albino's look of concentration did not fade as the dance progressed, occasionally stumbling over his paws as the speed increased, but otherwise matching her movements.

Finally, after a solid minute and a half of dancing, Lyrith raised his eyes up from her paws, to look into her face, to give her a strained grin. Voltlyn laughed delightedly, glad to see he had gotten the hang of it so quickly. Then she sped up the pace further, bringing them to the regular speed of the dance.

A small crowd was drawn as the two danced, Savron, Sleet, Ireeca, Zindy and Igneous cheering them on while Tirren and Danrah clapped to the beat, smiling at the sight. Spyro and Cynder glanced at one another, grinning at the sight of the two dancing across the floor, the black and purple dragons leaning their heads together to watch them.

Lyrith let out a laugh as he managed to go a few rounds without tripping up, a wide grin spreading across his face. Voltlyn moved closer to the white dragon, tightening the circle of their dance until they were nearly touching at points. Another few minutes passed and the song ended with a triumphant blaring of horns. Voltlyn and Lyrith came to a halt, laughing ecstatically, both panting lightly at the exertion. The assembled crowd applauded the display, not a single dragon or mole without a smile.

Voltlyn blushed a faint pink at all the attention, but Lyrith simply draped a wing over her back and led her away from the music box, over to an empty table. Voltlyn's flush grew a bit brighter at the touch, but she did not object to it in the slightest.

"That was shockingly fun," Lyrith chuckled as they sat down, the white glancing over to the lightning dragoness for confirmation. Voltlyn nodded in agreement, not meeting his eyes out of embarrassment at his embrace. Lyrith frowned momentarily and then realized he may be making her uncomfortable with his wing, so he removed it. Voltlyn opened her muzzle to object as he retracted his wing, and then shut it, not sure how she'd phrase it.

"So," Lyrith said after a moment of silence. "What should we do next?"

Voltlyn looked up at him, joy catching light in her chest at the suggestion of spending more time together. She glanced around, wondering what they could do together. Before she could think of anything, the door to Lyrith's room flew opened and a pair of Albinos marched in, dragging a trolley of colourful boxes.

"Your delivery has arrived!" Aeil declared, turning to face Lyrith, easily able to find the other white in the room.

Inferna quickly rose to her paws. "Excellent, you arrived just in time, Aeil, Twar. Let the gift unwrapping commence!"

The crowd of guests quickly gathered around the trolley, grabbing their presents and rushing over to Lyrith, demanding he open theirs first. The white drake stared at the mountain of boxes quickly piling up on the table in front of him, shocked into silence at the enormity of it all. Voltlyn looked between him and the presence and sighed, rising to give him room to deal with them all. She stopped when she felt a paw grip her foreleg, and she looked down to see it was Lyrith's. He turned to face her, his red eyes sparkling.

"I'm going to need some help with all of this," he chuckled, gesturing with wing at the gifts. Voltlyn smiled happily and sat down next to him, picking out a green gift box, while Lyrith accepted a huge blue one from Dyama. She wished him a happy hatchday and whispered to him her thanks, to which he gave her a grateful nod.

From off to the side Savron watched Lyrith and Voltlyn tear away the wrapping paper and boxes, to show their content to the assembled crowd. His emerald green eyes fell on the ruby medallion. He nodded appreciatively.

"Voltlyn sure does have a taste in jewelry," he muttered to himself approvingly.

"Er, Savron, can I have a word with you?"

Savron blinked in surprise, wondering who could be talking to him, when all the excitement was piled under that huge hill of gifts. He turned and found Twar standing beside him, the Albino's face downcast.

"Oh, hey Twar, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be over with Lyrith to watch him open his presents?"

"I… well," Twar began, trying to decide how best to start. "I wanted to apologize to you," he said finally, bowing his head shamefully. Savron cocked his head in confusion.

"Why do you want to do that?" he asked, puzzled. "did you break one of my figurines again? Because if you did, I already told you I have spares."

"No, that's not it," Twar sighed, shaking his head. "It's… it's about the time I told you about the ambush…"

"Oh, I see. Don't worry about it, Twar. That's not your fault. We probably should have been more careful, or maybe, gasp, listened to my parents for once. You were just telling us what you heard."

"But… but still, I put you all in danger because of it. I shouldn't have told you," Twar muttered, his head not rising from the ground. Savron rolled his eyes, letting out a weary sigh.

"Arlght, maybe you should have told the Guardians about it, instead of us, but even still, it was our choice to follow up on the information. You only told us about it, you didn't make us go. So just forget about it, alright? I forgive you."

"But that's not…" Twar started again, looking up into Savron's face, frustrated. He stopped as he looked into the purple dragon's eyes, seeing the warm smile and forgiveness in his gaze. Twar let out a long sigh, defeated. "Alright, thank you Savron. I don't deserve it, but thank you."

Savron gave Twar a pat on the back, chuckling. "Don't' worry about it. Hey, how about you help me with my chores next time I get in trouble, if you're that beat up about it?"

Twar gave Savron a grateful smile. "I will. Thanks again, Savron."

The purple dragon watched Twar leave to join his twin in the crowd around Lyrith and Voltlyn's table, shaking his head in bewilderment.

"By the ancestors," Savron heard Lyrith gasp. The purple dragon glanced over and snickered as the white dragon unwrapped a box filled with jars of jam, the many different coloured glass containers crafted to look like sitting dragons. "Who in the world… Tirren, is this from…"

"Happy hatchday, Lyrith. I hope you enjoy them. Once you're done with the jam, you might want to consider turning those jars into lamps. They'd be quite beautiful scattered about a garden."

"Thank you… Looks like I'm not going to have to buy jam for quite a long time now…"

Savron snorted. "If he thinks that's impressive, wait until he sees what I got him."

* * *

Thunder boomed, reverberating across the vast stretches of the northern mountains. Rain pounded relentlessly against the stony peaks, causing sheets of water to gush down their slopes. The scrawny trees clinging to the mountainside wrestled against the gale, hopelessly trying to stay rooted, only to be torn away from the rocks and carried off in the wind.

Huddling deep within one of the mountain caves was an emaciated red dragon. The flickering light of his dying fire, which he desperately tried to keep it alight, outlined his gaunt features. He sat up high on a rock, steam puffing out of his muzzle as he did his best to avoid contact with the rushing stream of rain water gushing from the cave mouth. A raw deer hide was draped over his back for warmth, blood still dripping from it.

Torch tore into the raw flank of his dismembered deer, greedily stuffing his muzzle with food he had been lacking for far too long. Cold water washed over his tail tip, and he quickly brought it back up around him, away from the cavern floor. With the deer leg finished, Torch dropped the bone into the water, and huddled up into his deer pelt, his eyes wide as he stared at the wall. He only had two more shanks of deer left.

_"Oh ancestors, I'm going to die here aren't I?"_ the once-prince realized, shivering. _"A dying fire, a raging storm, no protection from the cold? This can't be happening to me!"_

"Dammit!" Torch groaned, curling up into a tight ball under his deer pelt. "This isn't fair! All I want is a warm bed and some hot food! I don't deserve this! I don't want to **die**!"

A bolt of lightning flashed, lighting up the cave for a brief moment, before being followed by a cacophonous 'boom'. Torch flinched at the sound, covering his head as the thunder battered his ear-frills.

"When will this storm end!?" Torch shouted, pounding his paws against the stone in frustration. "It's been going on like this for hours!"

"Hello? Is anyone down there?"

Torch perked up, startled at the sound a faint voice echoing through the cave. Crouching, he rose off the stone and jumped over to another rock, positioning himself so he could not be seen against the fire. Then he waited to see if the intruder would enter. After a moment of silence, a figure moved into the mouth of the cave and proceeded down. Torch watched the figure waded through the water, bearing a long walking stick to feel their way down the cave. The figure stopped just outside the light of the fire and glanced around. Torch felt a chill race up his spine as the cloaked intruder's gaze settled upon him.

"Why hello there. May I join you by the fire?"

Torch huffed and climbed back onto his rock, draping the deer pelt over himself once more.

"Why bother? It's not going to last much longer anyway, and I don't have the strength to make a new one right now."

"Well I wouldn't be much of a guest if I didn't return your generosity," the figure replied, stepping into the light. Torch watched suspiciously as the purple robed stranger put down his crystal topped staff and begin drawing runes into the air. After a few seconds, there was a bright flash of light, and several dry logs of wood appeared in the magician's hands. The figure tossed the logs onto the fire and then climbed onto the rocks himself, out of the water.

"Much better, don't you agree?" the stranger said as the fire flared up, greedily devouring the new source of fuel.

"Yeah," Torch grunted in agreement, scooting up close to the fire to let its warmth bathe him. He gazed into the dark cowl of the cloak curiously, trying to see the figure's face. "Who are you anyway?"

"Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself," the figure replied, throwing back his cowl. Torch flinched as he beheld Jaxar's twisted, half-dragon-half-panther face. "I am known as Jaxar. It is a pleasure to meet you..."

"Torch," Torch muttered, grabbing a shank of deer and tearing into it.

"Torch hm..." Jaxar murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting. I believe I've heard that name before..."

Torch paused halfway through taking a bite of his deer shank, and turned his gaze back up to Jaxar. A suspicious glower creased his hollow-cheeked face.

"Oh?" Torch replied, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh yes, that is where I remember your name from!" Jaxar exclaimed, a grin twisting his expression. "You were that wanted ex-prince I heard about. I saw your name and pictures on posters all over the place."

Torch rose quickly to his paws, snarling. "And what are you going to do about it, huh? Are you going to turn me in? Because if you do, I promise I will **not** come quietly."

Jaxar exploded with laughter, and waved his hand, gesturing for Torch to take a seat once more. "No no no! You do not have to worry about that! I'm just like you! A criminal, though only recently one."

"And that's supposed to comfort me? How do I know you won't slit my throat while I'm asleep and go back and use my bounty to buy off your crimes?"

Jaxar snorted and rolled his eyes. "That is extremely unlikely. My sentence is as extreme as yours. I would gain nothing but the headsmen's block if I tried to bring you to the authorities."

Torch slowly sat down, his red body still tense.

Jaxar leaned over and grabbed a flank of the deer. "May I have a bite?" he asked the red dragon, raising an eye brow questioningly.

"Sure... go ahead," Torch grunted, nodding warily.

Beaming, Jaxar brought the flank over the fire and snapped his fingers. The fire flared up brightly, engulfing the venison. Jaxar watched it smolder for a few moments, before allowing the fire to return to its normal flickering and pulled out his neatly sheared meal. The sorcerer tore into it with wild abandon, his crooked teeth ripping the meat off the bone with ease.

Torch slowly relaxed as he watched Jaxar eat, though he did not let down his guard.

"What are you wanted for anyway?" Torch asked once Jaxar paused to catch his breath.

Jaxar looked up and studied Torch for a moment, his red-orange eyes thoughtful. After a quite minute he spoke.

"Not long ago I was the advisor to the prince of the ferans, Ramolous. It was adequate at first, but soon I grew board of the little power I was allowed."

"Ah," Torch murmured, nodding in understanding.

"I wanted more. Not much, but something that would give me just a bit more control and respect. A barony or the like. So I cooked up a plan and started planting ideas of rebellion in my princes' mind. He was an unstable dragon, and easily manipulated. I got him to think that the purple dragons were Malefor reincarnated and had him begin a coup of his own, to murder the pair," Jaxar paused to bite into his shank of venison.

Torch leaned back on his rock and pursed his muzzle appreciatively. "Clever. That way you could get all the attention off of you, and on him instead, correct?"

"Exactly!" Jaxar laughed, wiping his mouth with the hem of his robe. "The coup he started would draw all attention away from me as I gathered my power. I'd poke and prod the fool into the right direction, so that he would be doing as much damage as possible and then, when the time was right, I would put him down myself and become a hero!"

"Obviously that didn't work though," Torch replied, smirking.

"Sadly not," Jaxar sighed, slumping. He raised a hand and rested his head in it despondently, a sad smile crossing his features. "The buffoon made one too many mistakes and got stopped before I could make my move. He was captured and he happened to mention me during the interrogation. Now I'm on the run, disgraced."

"Well at least you were convicted for something you actually did," Torch grumbled. "Yeah, sure owning a slave is 'technically' against the law, but honestly, what noble doesn't practice it to some degree?"

"How were you caught?" Jaxar asked, curious.

"This damned Albino rat found me with my slave. The vermin went immediately to the Guardians and they had me taken away in chains. The morons didn't even give me a proper trial!"

Jaxar sat up up, a frown breaking his amused smile.

"An Albino in the Temple? What exactly was this Albino's name?"

Torch gave Jaxar an incredulous look. "Why would you care?"

"There was a particular Albino from the Temple who played a key role in ruining my plans," Jaxar replied after a moment of silence. "He and his friends were responsible for the death of my apprentice, who I sent out to assassinate a key member of the opposition. The Albino's name was Lyrith."

Torch's expression darkened. "Lyrith," he spat. "That milk-scaled-wood-worm can't seem to keep his snout out of other people's business, can he?"

"Indeed," Jaxar snarled, slamming the butt of his staff into the stone beside him. "That was my best apprentice yet too! One of the few I was ever able to discuss magical theory with and actually get intelligent answers. And I was never able to beat him at checkers either!"

"I'm just surprised he was out of the Temple," Torch muttered, rubbing his head with his paws. "He loved it there. Happy as a rat in a fresh can of garbage."

"If I knew that, I'd tell you," Jaxar sighed, shaking his head.

Torch snorted, and mumbled some curses under his breath as he resumed his meal. Jaxar examined Torch closely, his orange-red eyes intent.

"You said you were a student at the Temple, am I correct?" Jaxar murmured, tearing a hunk off of his leg of venison.

"Yeah," Torch replied, barely pausing to eat, not even looking up at the sorcerer.

"What grade of student were you?" Jaxar asked, curious.

"I was the best!" Torch snarled, throwing down his venison. He grabbed it before it could fall into the water. "The only ones stupid enough to challenge me were that moronic Igneous and that rodent Lyrith! I would have shown them had I not been thrown out of the Temple!"

"I see," Jaxar said, a wide grin breaking over his features. "I have an idea, my good friend: Why don't you be my new apprentice!"

Torch glanced up, an eye ridge raised. "Didn't your last one **die** on you?"

Jaxar waved a hand away dismissively. "You needn't worry about that happening. I'll keep you out of harm's way, should you not wish to do any dirty work. I've always been a hands on sorcerer as it was anyway."

Torch grunted, not at all convinced. "And what would you teach me? What would I have to do?"

Jaxar smirked and stood, moving to sit beside Torch. "I'd teach you everything those Guardians were too afraid to teach someone as talented and smart as you. Magics too powerful and dangerous for those of weak spirits and minds to dabble with, how to contact those from beyond the mortal veil, and forms of sorcery that would bring the mightiest to their knees. All I want you to do is learn, and that when you have reclaimed your rightful kingdom that you give me a small position of power."

"You would help me become a king!?" Torch replied, stunned. "Why?"

Jaxar laughed. "You think that my ambitions of power ended with a mere set back such as what I went through? Oh no, I'm not ready to sit idle just yet. And I can see it in you, you are king material. I will teach you everything I know and together we can rule an entire kingdom!"

Torch's eyes gleamed darkly, a wicked smile creeping over his face. "You strike a hard bargain, Jaxar. I learn dark magic and the price is that I help you conquer an empire for myself? There has to be some sort of catch."

"The only catch is that you have to follow me and practice what I show you. Though, there may be times where you must go out and do something to ensure the success of our mission."

"Such as?" Torch inquired, staring into Jaxar's face.

"Such as gathering an army, finding allies and, more importantly," Jaxar leaned forward, a devilish smile cracking his face. "dealing pesky vermin like the Guardians and that foul Lyrith."

"Is there anything I don't like about this deal?" Torch chuckled, his yellow eyes blazing.

"Apparently not, because that is all I ask of you," Jaxar smirked, rising to his feet. "So, do you accept my proposal?" he asked, extending a hand.

"Yes, I accept," Torch grinned, gripping Jaxar's hand with his paw and shaking it.

"Together we will crush all who oppose us," Jaxar said, grinning maliciously.

"So, when do we start?" Torch asked eagerly, his eyes burning with a light that had gone out weeks before.

"For now, let us wait out this storm." Jaxar replied, sitting back down. "This cave is no place to practice the dark arts, and this weather will keep us from going anywhere for a while. For now you just rest and gather your strength."

"And then?"

"And then we make our way to the heart of these mountains, where we will be meeting up with a compatriot of mine at the Crossroads of Salvation. Then we can begin your training into the dark arts in earnest."

* * *

The only sound in the room was the flipping of pages and the hiss of sand dribbling down the enormous hourglass floating in the center of the chamber. Thousands of books lined enormous shelves reaching dozens of meters into the air, with countless more shelves lying in the rooms beyond. Books flew from shelf to shelf, constantly re-arranging as directed by the aged teal dragon sitting in front of a large podium. Occasionally books would stop in front of him, flip open and quickly skim through all the pages, as if being read at unthinkable speeds. Once each book closed in front of the dragon, the drake would nod and the book would fly back to its shelf.

Ignitus let out a long sigh once the last book slid into place. He rose and shook himself out, stretching his body.

"Well, that finishes up shelf CDXVIII," the Chronicler muttered under his breath, stepping down from his podium. Ignitus glanced up at the shelves standing around the chamber and snorted. All of the books vanished, returning to their original places. Shaking his head, the old dragon shuffled out of the room, giving the colossal hourglass a glance as he passed it by.

The former Guardian of Flame pushed open one of the massive sets of doors leading out of the main chamber and stalked through it. Ignitus paused for a moment to gain his bearings since, as he had quickly learned, the rooms had an odd habit of re-arranging themselves haphazardly.

"Books books books and more books," Ignitus murmured as he gazed at all of the shelves crammed into the chamber. "I was a great lover of literature in my life, but after twenty four years of nothing but reading... I wonder how the others handle it?" Ignitus squeezed through the shelves, the gaps being just barely large enough to let him maneuver around the maze of bookcases. He soon found the door hidden among the clutter of shelves and Ignitus threw them open: another storage room.

Ignitus sighed and continued walking, his neatly trimmed claws clicking on the white marble of the floor as he searched for the door leading to the balcony. Eventually he found it, and the teal dragon gratefully stepped out of the musty old dungeon of books, and into the open. Ignitus inhaled, relishing the delicious fresh air, and then leaned out of the balcony to look down over the lonely view of White Isle. The Chronicler sighed at the sight of the desolate white sand, and the stark pillars and threatening statues that dotted the island. A thick shroud of clouds smothered the sky, and only the twinkle of the blue ocean and fragments of blue on the architecture gave the isle any colour at all.

"Are zy feeling lonely?"

Ignitus started, the croaking voice sounding shockingly loud in the dead silence of the island. The Chronicler turned sharply, startled by the new presence. Standing beside him was a short, blue robed mole bearing a long staff, topped with a large blue crystal. Ignitus relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. The mole turned his expression away from the sight of the White Isle, to Ignitus, the newcomer's eyes twinkling.

"Chronicler Reynard!" Ignitus smiled, bowing his head in respect. "It is a relief to see you."

Reynard gave a croaking chuckle. "I see zou art having somewhat ouf a personal crisis right now, gitting bored are zou?"

Ignitus smiled. "You could say that. Being stuck here in this place alone is becoming draining on my psyche, and the books only barely help to stave it off. Though, even they are becoming somewhat wearisome."

"What is it zou is missing?"

"I suppose company would be foremost," Ignitus replied, leaning over the balcony. "Though something else to do but read would be ancestor sent."

"Eet is unfortunate that zose are zings we cannot easily supply zou," Reynard murmured. "We are all simply too busy to pay zou many visits, and we all have little access to zeh outside world."

"I know," Ignitus sighed once more. "But at least you dropped by; being able to talk to someone beside myself is a relief. I have not felt as bored as I was since I was hiding in a cave waiting out the war. And at least then I had fear of Cynder to motivate me."

"Unfortunately I am not here for a simple visit," Reynard replied shaking his head.

"Of course not."

"A meeting has been called."

"What is the occasion?"

"Zis one is not a formality. Somezing has come up."

"What is it?"

"I do not know. Zey has not told me yet."

Ignitus sighed. "I see. I suppose that means we should head there immediately."

"Eet would be a good idea."

"Then let us go. I have no desire to be shouted at for being late again."

The two Chroniclers turned and returned to the cramped confines of the library. They weaved their way through the rooms back to the main chamber, wherein they hobbled over to a huge set of arched doors. They waited in front of it for a few moments, tapping their feet impatiently. Finally, Chronicler Reynard thumped hard on the great stone doors with his staff and shouted in frustration.

"Bring us to zeh Citadel, yee lazy swine!"

The doors opened grudgingly, almost as if offended. Ignitus glanced down at Reynard, smiling fondly.

"There is no need to be rude…"

"Eet knew zere was a meeting going on, so eet shouldn't have waited," Reynard replied, huffing as they stepped through the open doors into the darkness.

For a moment they could see nothing in the blackness, the shade oppressing their vision. Then the darkness cleared and the pair found themselves standing in a vast courtyard levitating on a massive chunk of floating stone. Ahead of them floated a great fortress, seemingly carved from a gargantuan piece of unrecognizable black rock. Huge spires, grand arches and monumental turrets rose magnificently from the Citadel, its lights shining like the stars.

Ignitus's gaze continued up however, to stare at the sky above where, floating high above them was the world. Their world. It was broken and abused, but still whole and shining like a jewel.

"This sight never ceases to amaze me," Ignitus whispered, shaking his head in wonder.

Reynard nodded in agreement, chuckling as he limped across the courtyard towards the Citadel. Ignitus followed, glancing back quickly at the door he had come from. All of the doors stood solitary and apart from one another, attached to nothing and seemingly leading to nowhere. Each door bore the name of its Chronicler etched in glowing letters atop its frame, and an engraving of the race they represented on the doors themselves. All of the doors were now barred, allowing no one to return. Ignitus's smile soured slightly.

Reynard stopped momentarily at the ledge of the rock, right before it dropped off into the void. He continued once Ignitus stood next to him, casually stepping out into the nothingness. The rocky debris floating around them abruptly flew forward to form a stepping stone under the mole's feet. The mole continued forward, the stones creating a path towards the Citadel, only to dissipate behind him. Ignitus sighed, forcing himself not to look down into the void below and then continued forward, the rocks gathering underneath him to form a solid platform.

The stars glittered around him as he moved across the emptiness towards the Citadel, the former Guardian's gaze returning to the wondrous sight of the world above him. He reached the foot of the Citadel, where Reynard was waiting for him. They nodded to one another as they stepped up to the gates, which swung noiselessly open. The pair stepped inside, neither glancing back as the doors slowly closed behind them. An endless hallway stretched out before them, leading to the central chamber. The pillars lining the carpeted floor reached up towards the impossibly high roof. It took a brief eternity to reach the end of the hall, where two enormous suits of armour stood guard, their plate mail suspended by crackling arcane energies. The sets of armour opened the chamber doors for the two, allowing them entry.

The central chamber was dominated by a great round table, carved from the very stone that made up the floor itself. Seated around it were countless teal robed figures, many of races Ignitus had, in his previous life, never even heard of before.

"You are late once again, whelp," growled an imposing saber-toothed feline, who rose to address the Dragonic Chronicler.

Ignitus flinched at the patronizing name, not having heard the phrase 'whelp' being directed at him for almost a century.

"I apologize, Chronicler Nazher," Ignitus replied briskly, biting back a witty remark. "I was only just informed of the gathering."

Nazher snorted, brushing a hand through his blue-grey mane and sneering, his long dagger-like-teeth barred. Then he turned his gaze away from Ignitus, towards the other Chroniclers.

"Now that everyone is here, we may begin."

Ignitus took his seat, and glanced upwards towards the ceiling. The teal drake shivered. Looking down upon them from the balconies were thousands of shadowy figures. Their faceless gazes were unwavering and intense and their shapes undefined. Ignitus quickly returned his gaze to Nazher as the Chronicler continued.

"I have called upon all of you to relay some vital information: The Family appears to be reuniting once more."

There was a collective gasp from the majority of the Chroniclers, who then turned to each other and started murmuring in hushed, frightened tones. Ignitus looked around, somewhat baffled by the reaction. Despite his confusion, a tingling sense of familiarity crept up his spine, and he wondered where he had heard of that name before.

"Do we know this for certain?" The griffon Chronicler Rathal asked, his glowing gold eyes narrowing.

"While browsing through the archives one of the spirits found it and brought it to my attention," Nazher replied briskly. "And I immediately called this meeting as a warning. I have examined the text myself and it does indeed reference The Family regrouping in the near future."

The muttering redoubled, the other Chroniclers growing anxious. Ignitus gazed worriedly at his compatriots, startled at how concerned they all appeared.

"As a precaution, I want all of you to shroud your abodes and avoid having any visitors in the near future. We cannot, will not, allow another assault on the Citadel to occur."

Ignitus hesitated for a moment, letting that declaration sink in. Then, unable to hold his silence any longer, he rose to address Nahzer.

"Chronicler Nazher, should we warn the mortals of this threat? If they are such a danger to us that we must completely cut ourselves off from the mortals, surely they are a threat to the world at large as well."

Nazher paused in his speech, and turned to look at Ignitus, a sneer creasing his face. The other Chroniclers fell silent as well, to watch the exchange.

"They are indeed a threat to the mortal world, whelp, but we will **not **warn them of it. Our duty is to gather and protect knowledge, not to interfere with the happenings of the mortal world. It is not **our** right to do so."

"Then why did my predecessor interfere?" Ignitus insisted, growing aggravated at how the others were looking at him mockingly. "He stepped in to help Spyro when the world was in peril. What is so different about this situation and that, if "The Family" is so dangerous?"

"Zat was an uncommon occurrence, Ignitus," Reynard said, turning his intense gaze upon Ignitus. "And even zen, eet was not immediate. Your predecessor waited a considerable length of time before deciding eet was necessary, and even zen he was punished for his transgression. Interfering with zeh mortal world is not somesing to be taken lightly."

"Should it come to pass that our interference is necessary for the survival of the mortal world, then we will permit it, but otherwise it is forbidden," Nazher said sneering. "It is this very ignorant and rash thinking that has led to the ban of new Chroniclers getting to contact the mortal world for the first two lifespans of their service: So foolish younglings like yourself do not contact your old friends and family to warn them of events that they are not meant to know about."

Ignitus sighed, shaking his head. "I understand Chronicler Nazher, thank you for… educating me."

"It was my pleasure," Nazher said, his fangs clenched. The sabre cat then turned to look at the other Chroniclers. "are there any other foolish and pointless questions? No? Then you are all dismissed. Go about your duties as instructed, then return here."

The Chroniclers rose in unison and moved as one towards the exit. Ignitus sighed, frustrated.

"Worry not, zey shall get used to zou in time," Reynard murmured, patting a small hand on Ignitus' large foreleg.

"And how long will that be?" Ignitus asked with an amused smile.

"Anozer century or two will sooze zeir view of zou, friend," Reynard chuckled.

"Oh really? That long?" Ignitus groaned sarcastically, shaking his head.

"Aye. It eez difficult for us Chroniclers to forget, considering our duties."

"Indeed, you must forgive my compatriots Chronicler Ignitus, especially Nahzer, they are all still sore about your predecessor's loss."

Ignitus came to a stop and turned to look at the speaker, only to blink in surprise. A huge ape stood in front of him, standing nearly as tall as the teal dragon. The ape was wearing a long cape and loincloth to cover his white hair and blue flesh, but was otherwise unclothed. The ape planted his crystal-topped staff on the ground, and smiled gently at Ignitus' shock.

"I apologize, Chronicler Ignitus, I had wished to speak with you sooner, but I had thought it prudent to wait a few decades before doing so, so that you're wounds regarding the war between our races might be soothed somewhat."

Ignitus was speechless for a moment, and then he nodded. "Oh… of course. I should be the one apologizing though, since that was very rude of me to react in such a way. Of course there would be an ape Chronicler."

"I suspect you are more surprised that I am speaking with such calmness, considering our respective races history together," the ape said smiling, his deep voice reverberating around the now empty chamber. The ape held out a gargantuan, wrinkled hand. Ignitus took it with a paw after a moment of hesitation. "I am Chronicler Kailgorn."

"And you already know who I am," Ignitus said, nodding. "Though in case you have not already met, this is Chronicler Reynard."

"We have met on occasion," Kailgorn said with a nod, smiling down at the mole. Reynard gave a short bow to the Ape.

"Eet is a pleasure to see zou again, Kailgorn".

"Now that introductions are out of the way, I came wishing to make an attempt at repairing the relationship between our respective races, even if it is just between us."

"You are already doing a marvelous job of that," Ignitus chuckled. "You are the kindest Chronicler to have approached me outside of Reynard."

"I was good-friends with your predecessor. Even during the Ape-Dragon war the two of us would visit on occasion and talk of philosophy and the metaphysical. But I suppose I am more capable of letting go of my feelings than our peers are. We all miss him deeply, but it is time to let go and welcome the new dragonic Chronicler into our ranks. "

"The previous Dragon Chronicler must have been very well respected among the others, if what you say is true."

"He was. Nazher in particular was fond of him. He was devastated at his passing, and his breaking of the Chronicler laws. He will take longer than most to recover, but he **will** recover in time."

"That gratifying to hear, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later."

"Indeed, I certainly hope so. You are a bright young Chronicler, much as you were a bright dragon in your youth."

Ignitus raised an eye ridge. "You know of my childhood?"

"I took time to read through some of your book, back when your predecessor was debating making you his successor. I am quite impressed."

"Ah, that explains it," Ignitus muttered, rather embarrassed at the realization that the ape Chronicler was intimately aware of his life. The three fell silent for a moment, and turned to leave the meeting chamber. Ignitus was halfway down the hall when he turned to the two Chroniclers accompanying him.

"Who is "The Family?" Ignitus asked abruptly, glancing at the two. "I have the feeling I have heard of them before, but I cannot remember any details."

"Ah, we should have suspected you would not know who they were," Kailgorn chuckled, shaking his head. "They are a secretive bunch."

"Zeh Family is a collective of zeh most depraved and monstrous creatures from around zeh world," Reynard started, gruffly. "zey are an organization hundreds of years old, started by zeh members whose names were lost to history."

"Lost to history?" Ignitus asked, incredulous. "How is that possible? Aren't **we** history? We have books recording the details of every single moment in every single living creature's life? How can we not know their history?"

"This was still before my time, mind, but it was close enough that I have heard all of the stories," Kailgorn muttered, his staff slamming sharply against the ground. "At first, they were of little interest to the Chroniclers, being just another collective. Then, their founding members abruptly, and without warning, attacked three of the Chronicler's abodes, destroying countless books and forcing their way into the Citadel."

"Zat should have been impossible. Finding a Chroniclers' abode is one sing, but zeh magics used to make zeh Citadel and zeh doors leading to eet are as old as zeh Ancestors zemselves. No mortal should have known zem."

"They stormed the Citadel, forcing their way through. They killed no Chroniclers, since, as spirits of the past we cannot be slain, but they were easily able to subdue us long enough to crack open the vault, find their records and destroy them, thereby erasing their names from all of our books."

Ignitus stared at the two in shock. "That is… I can see now why a full meeting was called just to warn us of them. If they were capable of it once…"

"Indeed. We cannot permit another such rampage of destruction to occur, especially here of all places. The mere fact that they are… were able to penetrate our lairs like that is utterly terrifying. Who knows what they might try and destroy next if they should attempt another assault?" Kailgorn muttered, shivering. "Even more mortifying is the unimaginable magics they must have wielded to achieve such a feat. I can scarcely imagine where they learned them."

"So, if their records are missing, how do we know anything about them at all, even their organization's name?" Ignitus asked, shifting the subject away from the idea of another assault.

"We lost only zeh information regarding zeir founders, not zeh osther members."

"Indeed, over the years we have found a few others who have joined the organization, but even through them we can only know the titles of the founders, and nothing more. Once such member of The Family we know of was my grandson, Gaul."

Ignitus stopped once more, turning to Kailgorn his expression shocked. The ape Chronicler huffed, his face cracking into an un-amused smirk.

"I know how you feel, Ignitus, but understand I do not share my grandson's feelings. Until my son stabbed me in the back, literally, I was planning on making peace with the dragons. My grandson took to his father a little too fervently."

"Oh, I see," Ignitus murmured hesitantly. Then he shook his head. "What are their goals, then? If we have information about a few of their members, surely we know their goals?"

"We know not. We might have known if we knew anything about their founders, but as it is we are uncertain. All we are aware of is that everything they are involved in has caused strife and chaos across the planet."

Ignitus sighed, glancing down at the ground in frustration as they arrived at the island of portals. Then he looked back up at the floating world above them.

"Why can we never have peace?"

"As a wise dragon once told me," Kailgorn said, approaching his portal. "strife begets strife, and until all parties are willing to set down arms, conflict will never end."

"So all hope is lost?" Ignitus asked the ape as they started going their separate ways.

Kailgorn turned back to Ignitus and smiled. "It is that sort of attitude that leads to conflict, Chronicler Ignitus. There is always hope for a brighter future, one just needs to keep searching for it, and not let failure and pain blind them."

Then the Ape was gone, stepping through the portal and vanishing. Ignitus turned back to Reynard, who had stopped by the entrance to his portal. The mole smiled.

"Nosing like his grandson, is 'e?" Reynard cackled. "let us convene at zeh entrance once we haf finished closing off our abodes. I have greatly enjoying our conversation," the mole then turned and stepped through the portal, leaving Ignitus alone on the island. The teal dragon sighed, and then smiled.

"What a day this has been," Ignitus murmured to himself, moving to his own portal, "but it is not over just yet. There is more to be done."

Ignitus stepped through the portal.

**Dardarax's Characters:**

Lyrith, Savron, Ignitus, Tirren, Voltlyn, Sleet, Danrah, Vash, Zindy, Typhous.

Inferna, Serion, Deran, Aggernon, Milsey, Grann, Bellue, Dyama, Aeil, Twar.

Torch, Jaxar, Ramolous.

Chronicler Reynar, Chronicler Kailgorn, Chronicler Nazher, Chronicler Rathal.

_Talon belongs to Talon The Dragon_

And yes, I checked, _Splendiferous_ is actually a word. :P

So, after months of work this chapter is finally done. Remember way back when I said this chapter was going to be easy and should be out soon? Yeah, turned out I was **painfully **wrong. Almost immediately I found myself stumbling over scenes, continually trying and failing to get them to work. In particular this was in the Chronicler scene and another scene that I was forced cut out (thought it will be including as part of the sequel) that refused to work for me for the longest time. It got to the point where I wasn't even able to write more than a few lines of the Lyrith bits without scrapping the entire thing. All of this, along with the backbreaking amounts of homework writing keeping me away from the desk when I wanted to actually write led this chapter to be hellishly difficult to work on.

Fortunately in the past month I suddenly felt the weight being lifted off of my back, as well as an excellent opportunity to do some hard writing looming over the horizon in the form of a road trip. So, after months I was finally able to sit down and actually get work done. And guess what? This is now the longest chapter I have posted; though it would have been second had I actually posted the chapter 29 and 30 together as one like I had originally planned. xD Just goes to show you that, when I actually push myself to do work I can accomplish a lot, despite what my track record is saying. (Though it might have been pushed over because of this unbearably long Author's note. xD)

So, that long and boring story short, I think I have finally moved past my writers block and will be able to do more writing in the future. I will no longer let my muse rule my writing, as that has only led to longer and longer time between posting. Instead, I will force myself to write a bit for all the stories I want to do every day from now on, and that should keep me from losing touch with my own work.

Now that this chapter is out, I will be returning to FC, EH in addition to working on DL2, though the sequel won't be published for some time (I want to get a few chapters done before I post anything). In addition, I am also going to be writing my own original story while doing all of this, though it will be taking a back seat compared to these other two stories. =)

Also I will be setting the poll I had started way back up once more. I have gotten so many more readers that I figure it is only fair to give them a shot at voting for what small story I might be doing alongside these other three. It won't be a regular occurrence, but every now and again I will post a chapter for it, just to do something different. =) So watch for that, readers, since it will be out soon and you might see something you'd want me to work on in the future. =3

Lastly, I would like to thank all of you for being such amazing readers. Back when I first started this story, I had never thought I would reach the height of 550+ reviews or 81,000 hits, especially not on my first story I posted here on Fanfiction. This has truly inspired me, and makes me think I might have a chance to achieve my dream of becoming a successful author. =)

I'll start writing the next chapter FC, EH immediately, as, from this point forward, it is no longer on hiatus. =) Man does it feel amazing to finally have this story done. Two-three years of writing... wow.

Ps. A HUGE thanks to Goldengriffoness for all her help betaing my story most of the way through it. She has been a real asset at finding those pesky little errors and for talking about how parts of my story might be improved.

Similar thanks to go Deeth Irteen, who has been there with me for a while, and has been a big help to my writing by letting me bounce ideas off of him to see if they stick.

Thanks guys, you've been a colossal influence on my writing career. =)

Pps. Also, in case any of you noticed and were wondering, I changed the category of Dark Legacy from "Adventure Drama" to "Friendship Drama." This was done, since, for the longest time I was wondering if "Adventure" was an appropriate category for the story. I made the decision to change it now when a friend of mine mentioned how the story was closer to a 'friendship' one, since the majority of the plot does revolve around Lyrith's adaption to life at the Temple and growth as a character to accept friends into his life. It's really not all that important now, since the story is over and done with, but I figured I might as well do it, just so that people who are coming into the story for the first time won't be misinformed.


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